


Biblioteca

by sohytes



Series: Biblioteca Verse [1]
Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Abusive Family, Angst, Brooke studies law, F/F, Girlfriends - Freeform, Lesbian AU, Love at First Sight, Mommy Kink, Slow Burn, Smut, They meet in a library, Vanessa studies medicine, here we go ladies, nina works at the library's cafeteria, theoretically set in italy but not really mentioned, vanjie is a bookworm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-04-12 08:57:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 28,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19128757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohytes/pseuds/sohytes
Summary: Brooke just wanted to borrow "The Letters Of Vita Sackville-west And Virginia Woolf" from the library, she couldn't imagine that behind her, in the line, somebody else was about to give it back. And as their fingers brushed together she realize that it may be her lucky day.or Vanesa is a bookworm and Brooke falls in love with her.





	1. I. a book and a coffee.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lesbians,  
> I'm gonna share some informations here that may help guide the reader:  
> Vanessa is 21, she studies medicine and she's in the 3rd year of university out of 6, she then intends to follow a 3 years long pediatrician specialization;  
> Brooke is 23, she studies law and she's in her first year of specialization of the legal profession, after she graduated the 3 years course, the previous year.  
> I only explain it because it's set in Italy so the way universities work here may not be clear to everybody (hell, they aren't clear to me and I'm italian, some things are in fact made up).  
> it's vaguely set in this library, between the Galleria Centrale, the Caffetteria and the Medioteca spot on the second floor: https://www.sangiorgio.comune.pistoia.it/spazi-2#.XPqi9S1aauU
> 
> It's my first time writing anything really, I kind of learned how to read yesterday actually.  
> Hope you find it fun :)
> 
> p.s. i was lightly inspired by a ticket to anywhere by artificiallale, which is my favourite fanfiction of all time, so please artificiallale if you're reading this (*alexis mateo BAM voice*) papi i want you to come back home, baby!
> 
> I'm @sohytes on tumblr, come say hi! <3

"The Letters Of Vita Sackville-west And Virginia Woolf-" she read on her smartphone screen as if she didn’t know the name of the book she had been looking for for weeks. “-do you have it?”

The librarian didn’t seem to want to grace her with a glance, tapping loudly with her long nails on her old keyboard, absent-mindedly humming to what she just asked for.  
_A’keria_ she read on the nametag on her chest, she always looked annoyed when she was around and Brooke never understood why; she told herself that she must always be like that, to save herself from the existential crisis that would come with the realization that she _can’t be liked by everybody._  
That’s why it hurt even more when the hostile librarian grew the warmest smile she’d ever seen looking over Brooke’s shoulder.  
“It’s currently borrowed but I believe today may be your lucky day” she told her.

Curious about what could ever ignite that reaction, she turned around and maybe _yes, it was her lucky day after all._

What she saw was a girl in an olive green little jumpsuit that complimented perfectly her caramel skin and strawberry brown hair, a smile that could light up the universe and her dark eyes looking up at her while holding up in a hand a book, actually – **the** book.  
Slowly she lowered the book to hand it to her and as Brooke took it they lightly brushed their fingers together.  
“yeah, I think so too” said Brooke, still mesmerized by the girl.  
_She’s blushing._

When she turned around she didn’t find the warm smile she previously left the librarian with, as it was now a skeptical glare. _Yeah, she doesn’t like me._  
She lent her the library card so that she could borrow the book and left the line, giving one last look back at the angel from before.

Not needing to give back the book anymore, the girl followed Brooke Lynn in the cafeteria, which was inside the library, and found herself one more time that day behind her in a line. _Not that she minded._

The blonde was highly aware of being watched, so she swayed her hip to the side and ordered her black coffee with a smug on.  
Nina prepared her order holding herself back from saying anything, observing her friend’s weird behavior.  
Brooke stood to the side to let the latina order, looking at her out of the corner of her eye, waiting for her to finish to hand Nina enough money to pay for the both of them: “One coffee and whatever sugary drink she just ordered, thank you”

Now Nina had everything clear.  
The little show before her eyes was beginning to look very interesting.

“You ‘gonna pay for me, _Mami_? You don’t even know my name”  
“I was hoping I could buy that knowledge with my money”

Nina smirked as she said “Be nice Brooke, I wouldn’t challenge that smart mouth”  
Both turned to her; then to each other.  
“Smart mouth, huh?” asked Brooke with an intrigued look.  
“ _very_ smart” the angel answered with a Cheshire-cat smile.

When the coffees were ready Brooke took the both of them and placed them on an outside table, sitting down. The pretty girl sat directly across from her, held her gaze, waited a bit and the said “Vanessa Mateo, Vanjie for like two librarians since I don’t have time to have friends.”  
She ripped two sugar packets and poured them in her already-way-too-sweet coffee.

“Interesting. My name is Brooke Lynn Hytes. Yes, like the city area and yes, my parents are _extremely_ fun at parties.”

They finished their drinks and kept talking while Nina had called A’keria and Shuga, the librarians, to watch them from the glass door that linked the library’s cafeteria with the outside lunch spot.  
“Now, that’s a couple I wasn’t expecting” observed Shuga;  
“Why not? It makes sense, they look cute” said Nina;  
“I don’t trust her, one wrong move with Vanjie and Blondie is catching those hands” hissed A’keria.

 

“It’s nice. The book, I mean. Romantic shit” said Vanessa.  
“Oh yes, I read a lot about it, have been looking for it for a while actually”  
“Where did you read about it? We-Want-The-Island-Of-Lesbo-Back.com?” she joked, testing her reaction.  
“Pretty much” Brooke laughed throwing her head back a little. _Test passed with flying colors._  
“I thought that white tall blonde lesbians that look like you only existed in porn” she challenged, that time.  
“And I thought hot short Latinas with caramel skin and piercing dark eyes that look like you only existed in my dreams. But here we are.”  
_Full score, again._

After way too much flirting Vanessa’s eyes met the clock and as if she was Cinderella, her face dropped.  
“I really need to go” she said, the smirk that adorned her face just minutes prior was gone, but Brooke didn’t want to let her go.  
“Wait why? What happened?”  
“Remember when I told you that I don’t have time for friends? That’s what I meant. I have to study, girl, it’s been cute-“ she fretted “- hope to see you around!”

And she was already leaving.  
_One last try._  
“At least give me your number?”  
Vanessa turned around and smiled saying “I don’t have one” and left.

Brooke remained sit for a while thinking about what just happened; _did she just reject me?_ She didn’t understand. She knew what saying “I don’t have a phone number” meant for a girl but she couldn’t believe that after all they said to each other she could just drop her off like a scrub she didn’t want.

 _A Cigarette._ She needed one right in that moment.

“So?” asked a very curious Nina “I’ve seen her run away. Did you already tell her about you mommy kink you dirty bitch-“  
“actually she was the one calling me Mami.” Brooke interrupted “-And you were right there, so please confirm that I didn’t dream her up” she pleaded, exhaling the smoke.  
“Well yes, I’ve seen her before. She’s a **regular** regular. Like, she’s here everyday” Nina explained.

“Well good news: suddenly I feel like vising you more often”


	2. II. a DVD and a mess with honey & milk.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twelfth day Brooke finds Vanessa again and A'keria loses a bet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the nice comments on the first chapter, love you all!
> 
> @sohytes on tumblr, come talk to me about Vanessa with glasses!

The following month Brooke kept coming to the library.

She was in the fourth year of law school, or first of specialization after graduating the previous year the basic three years long course of study. She was really good, graduated with an unsatisfying 109/110 – and please never mention it in her presence because she _will_ cut you; she’s convinced they didn’t give her a 110 just because she happened to sleep with her political economy professor’s daughter and never call her again.  
To her defence, that Kahanna was just as hot as she was boring.

She didn’t necessarily study _better_ at the library than at home, but she didn’t mind having direct sources on hand in case she needed to look up something _._ Or that’s what she decided to tell Shuga when asked why she was suddenly coming to the library that often.

“Nothing to do with a certain Vanessa, then?”  
_goddamn it, Nina_  
“No, nothing to do with her-” she said with an eye-roll “-and TELL NINA I’M GOING TO KILL HER WITH MY BARE HANDS” loud enough to be heard from the woman in question.

 

_But yeah, she was there for her._

______ _ _ _ _

For the first few days she didn’t even find her, she passively looked for her in the tables close to where she usually sat herself, but she was never there.

One day she decided to _passively_ look for her in other places.

And there she was: like in a fairy tale the princess was up the stairs in the highest room in the tallest tower. Two flights of stairs protected her the first floor’s noises, and two big shelves of old Italian DVDs that nobody cared about acted as shields from unwanted interactions with other people.  
She was in the third table out of the five lined up, the others only occupied during exam season.

Brooke could tell she was concentrated by the way her eyebrows were drawn together, thick black glasses scrunched up on the small bridge of her nose. She sat in the free spot on Vanessa’s left, thinking of what to say but before she could decide anything the rough voice she couldn’t mistake for anyone else’s interrupted her.

_“You found me.”_

She sounded impressed but she wasn’t looking up from the books, at least three, all open in front of her.

“Oh hi! Sorry, what was your name? Clarissa? Veronica?” Brooke ventured.  
Vanessa stopped in her tracks to slowly look at her with a death glare, but as she met the blonde’s amused face she let out a really loud laugh: nothing was left of the concentrated facade she put up before, until her sweet laughter was interrupted by a girl nearby that hushed her.  
Brooke hadn’t even noticed the presence of other people in the room.

“Shut up Yvie, don’t you have some philosopher to swear against today?”  
“That was one time, bitch!”  
“Still!”

She then turned her attention back to Brooke who was observing their interaction with amused interest.  
“So _Beatrice_ , what bought you here? Don’t you like more your first-floor-sunny-open-loud-teenagers-infested spot?”  
“How do you know where I- you spied me!”  
“Accused the girl that was just casually looking for Benigni’s filmography” she ironized pointing at the closer DVDs’shelf.  
“Hey! He made some good ones!” she said, trying to act offended.  
“I bet” the brunette smirked.

And for a beat they just shared a glance.

“I’ve been looking for you” said Brooke, more serious.  
“I know-” responded Vanessa, looking at her almost apologetically “-I saw you.”  
“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

It was a risk, Brooke knew it.  
_because I don’t want anything to do with you;_  
_because you misunderstood my actions;_  
_because my boyfriend is right there and he’s looking at us;_  
_because I’ve been wanting to kiss you since I’ve seen your lips for the first time and I don’t care how bitter your fucking coffee makes your mouth taste because mine is so sweet that they will balance each other out._

Vanessa didn’t say any of those things.

 

“I was busy”

“Alright, but will you let me offer you another coffee?”

“Sorry, I wasn’t clear-“ said Vanessa letting out an ironic laugh “-I **am** busy”

“Oh, come on!” Brooke was pushing her, she knew that, but the other girl didn’t seem to mind too much as she was now writing something down on her book again but with a badly concealed smile. “What do you study?” she said as she tried to change the subject.

“Medicine, third year”  
_don’t picture her wearing a sexy nurse costume, Brooke don’t you dare_  
“I study law”  
“Yeah, you seem the type” decided Vanessa with an eyebrow raised, lightly nodding.  
“And what is that supposed to mean?” she questioned with an high tone and a simulated offended face.  
Vanessa laughed again, her eyes closed and her smile bright.  
Brooke couldn’t hold any other expression other than a proud grin anymore. She just made her laugh. She wanted the time to slow down to watch her laugh frame by frame. She needed it.

“You’re the loudest person in the quietest place-” Brooke observed “-but you seem in your element. That’s interesting”  
“Interesting?”  
“Yeah” Brooke breathed.

They looked in each other’s eyes and felt scared.  
_Scared to say the wrong thing and ruin that atmosphere._  
_Scared that their eyes locked so easily and that it felt so right._

So Vanessa said the only thing that made sense saying: “Let’s go take that coffee”

With a triumphant feeling building inside Brooke’s chest she quickly got up like if she wasn’t fast enough she could lose Vanessa like an evening train.  
She elegantly offered her hand to help Vanessa get up and she took it, letting their fingers linger for longer than needed, she looked up at her like she was her princess charming just for that little gesture.

 

As they arrived at the cafeteria Nina greeted them with a pleasantly surprised expression that Brooke honestly found embarrassing.

“One black coffee and that mess with honey and milk she takes” ordered the blonde trying really hard to mentally communicate to her best friend not to say something she shouldn’t say with Vanessa standing right there.  
“Well _good evening_ to you too Brooke Lynn-“ said Nina trying to sound sarcastic, then adding a more sweet “- and good evening Vanjie!”  
“Hello Nina!” smiled Vanessa.

 

As they ended up talking outside for hours just like the previous time A’keria approached Nina.

“Look who finally decided to grace us with her presence. I won, tomorrow lunch is on you!”  
“Girl I know, I’ve seen them coming down the stairs looking like fucking Simba and Nala from The Lion King. You could hear Can You Feel The Love Tonight in the background. And to set the record straight in this parallelism I’m Timon and you are Pumba, bitch” pointed out A’keria.  
“I knew Vanessa couldn’t last two weeks. It’s Brooke we’re talking about, she’s human too!”  
“I don’t get what y’all see in that Britney Spears at 55 look alike”  
“Can you please tell me what did she do to you” Nina pleaded laughing  
“Oh bitch, I don’t forget and don’t forgive. I’ll never be over that time I saw her-“  
“Sorry, could you please help me find this book?” a teenager interrupted her pointing to a title written in pencil on a ripped piece of paper.  
“Sure baby, this way-” she said as she guided him “- I’ll tell you another time” whispered back at Nina.

 

 

For the following week Brooke and Vanessa kept taking one black coffee and one _mess with honey and milk_ together.  
Then it became a month of dates that always finished with Nina reluctantly telling them that they were about to close.  
They assured each other that there would always be a next date by paying one time each with the excuse of going even: if Brooke payed the first time, Vanessa payed the second because _it was fair_. but then Brooke payed the third so Vanessa _had to_ pay the fourth. And so on.

 

Everything was nice. Until it wasn’t.


	3. III. tea and frozen peas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanessa is confusing and her life is hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> buckle up ladies, this is a sad one.
> 
> p.s. 17 is on a scale from 0 to 30 where 18 the grade you need (at least) to pass the exam

Vanessa looked at the ugly 17 written in red ink on her exam paper.

_What the fuck do I need physics for? I need to cure children not help them with their fucking homework._

 

She knew complaining about it wasn’t gonna solve anything but for somebody like her that grade was a catastrophe. She had the opportunity of refusing the grade and try again, which she was extremely grateful for, but at the same time that meant she had to start studying it all over again, better and harder that how she had studied it before. Which for her standard was already better and harder than usual.

And that meant something _worse_.

 

“No more coffee” she said firmly to a very confused Brooke that had just got there, next to Vanessa’s usual spot, now _her_  usual spot, too.

“…Okay? You want some tea today? I think Nina can-“ tried Brooke, but she was immediately interrupted by Vanessa.

“No I meant we can’t do-“ she gesticulated between the two of them “- _that_ anymore.”

 

Brooke didn’t know what to say, so all that came out of the mouth was a weak “Okay.”

 

She sat down on her new _usual?_ spot and started taking out her books absent-mindedly; the more she thought about what just happened the more confused she got, and being confused frustrated her and being frustrated angered her.

Vanessa knew she was being confusing, and it felt painful to hear the blonde fast and rough movements, opening the book with the same violence a straight white guy would hit a wall with.

Neither of them were concentrated on what they were reading but they hadn’t found the right words to say yet neither.

Until they both did – at the same time.

“Listen-“

Vanessa let her talk.

“I-I don’t know what I did wrong but-“  
“You didn’t do anything-”

“Please” she begged to let her talk first as she placed her hand over Vanessa’s, bringing her dark eyes to meet her own for the first time that day, which made dissipate any anger she had built up inside “-I understand that you’re busy and that it’s not the right time, so I apologize that I forced this onto you.”

 

Vanessa wasn’t expecting this. At all.

She thought it was gonna be easy: they were gonna fight, and Brooke would have never wanted to see her again. Everyone reacted like that. Everyone wanted her _attention_ not her _affection_ , her _best_. Everyone is egotistical with her time.

Except for Brooke, apparently.

 

But that didn’t change a thing.

 

Vanessa looked down at their fingers intertwined and said “Thank you for understanding.” She freed her hand and brought it to Brooke’s cheek, lightly caressing her, kissing her on the other cheek.

 

“Now please go” she whispered.

 

Brooke felt like mixed signals were her thing by now, and she also knew she asked her to go because neither would be able to concentrate when they were so close to each other; so she put the books she had taken out back in her bag and left.

 

Vanessa was watching her leave when she heard Yvie say “you’re an idiot”.

And a part of her felt like she wasn’t wrong.

 

* * *

 

When Vanessa left the library that late evening, she came home to her little sister loudly crying and her father screaming, _as usual_.

She took Ariel in her arms to calm her down, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, even if she was perfectly aware she couldn’t top the sound of her father and twin brother fighting in the other room. Ariel’s big doe eyes full of tears were looking up at her when she heard a loud sharp slap, and as if she was the one on the receiving end – which she’s been before – she knew it felt worse than usual.

She brought Ariel to her bedroom and tucked her in her little bed, and kissed her forehead as if to ask for forgiveness that she had to participate in this mess.

 

Vanessa went in the kitchen where she knew the men of the family were, and she found Jose trying to keep his cool with a pack of frozen peas on his left cheekbone as their father was still screaming at him for whatever bullshit reason his alcoholic ass felt like that day.

“Stop screaming, Ariel is in bed” she said trying to stay calm but her voice came out just annoyed and sick and she got closed to her brother, inspecting his new bruise and swearing silently under her breath.

 

“Well, well, well! Look who graced us with her presence tonight-” her father slurred out, _disgustingly_ “-you done wasting your time on those books, huh?” he said placing his hand on Vanessa’s face.

“You still think you can achieve anything other than being a dirty whore just like your mother- and to say you’d have all the right assets! Poor pathetic little bitch”

 

She knew that responding would only get her an ugly bruise on her face and tonight _really_ was not the right night.

 

Jose tore away her father’s hand from Vanessa’s face as if his hand was dirt and her face made of pure white silk. His father turned back to him raising his hand in a way too familiar way and Vanessa got in the middle of them pleading to just _stop_.

 

Vanessa took her brother to his room.

 

            Even if they had the same age she had always been the most mature and responsible one – or at least she forced herself to be since nobody else seemed able to take that title ever since their mother…

 

Her brother fell face first on the bed moaning that his cheekbone  _hurt_.

“Then don’t throw yourself face first on the bed, stupid” she weakly joked, trying to save what was left of a normal brother-sister relationship. But he remained silent, moving a little his face to look at Vanessa that was slumped on his chair at his desk.

 

“I can’t take it anymore, Ness” he whispered.

 

She had heard him clear even before he pronounced the words.

 

 

Somebody said that twins can read each other’s mind, but ever since their mother died giving birth to Ariel the only real connection they had was looking in the mirrors that were each other’s eyes full of tears and see themselves without filters, just like in that moment.

 

Their family had never been rich, but they used to be _happy_.

 

It’s true, when Vanessa’s mother met her father she was a sex worker, trying to live through college, struggling to make ends meet each month.

 

They met when his father’s friends convinced him to have sex with a hooker for the first time; they choose her from the street and left them alone in his car.

He didn’t really want to do it but he felt pressured so he just agreed, and now he was driving a car with the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen sat next to him. The silence was awkward till they drove far enough that the only thing surrounding them was the sound of crickets and the stars above them.

He didn’t fuck her, they talked instead. And they fell in love soon after.

His friends teased him about it, but he didn’t care because he had found _the_ one and only.

When she got pregnant with Vanessa and Jose she was 24 and he was 26, and even though they weren’t expecting it they were both happy and decided to move in together and get married. Vanessa remembers the first years of her life being the happier because of how caring her mother was.

Then she got pregnant again, at 39, her body couldn’t take it and she died giving birth due to eclampsia.

 

The baby came out safe and her name was Ariel, just like the mother wished before dying. Now she was a constant reminder of the loss of the woman of their father’s life and he couldn’t take it. Luckily not even when drunk he could hit the little girl but unluckily he didn’t reserve the same treatment to the older twins.

 

Still, they never celebrate Ariel’s birthday.

 

Vanessa had lived this situation with extreme courage.

She focused on school, even if initially she wasn't good at it and had to be guided through it; as a 15 years old motherless girl her results were incredible and she decided that if she could feel the warm feeling of satisfaction of being able to do and know something while also helping other people _hell yes she would do it_ , for the rest of her life.

 

 

So she now studies Medicine. And wants to be a pediatrician.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual you can find me on tumblr @sohytes


	4. IV. peach juice and rooftop talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brooke is a mess and Nina tries to help. Yvie needs to go to the bathroom... Bad choice.  
> Physics sucks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guess who just updated two days in a row? this bitch.
> 
> hope you'll enjoy those messy lesbians.

Brooke understood. She did.

Ok, she _thought_ she did.

But it didn’t make it any less hard.

 

She kept going to the library everyday but now she just sat at the cafeteria and looked through her papers.

She’d never found studying hard, especially when she liked the subject, a mixture between being used to studying her whole life and being blessed enough to have good memory and a supportive family: a privilege she never took for granted, like many others.

 

Her parents met in their hippy period, mad at the world for wars and capitalism; her mother long blonde hair making her look like a nymph and her dad’s mustache making him look like Freddie Mercury. Sadly, with adulthood both of those traits were soon replaced with a clean bun for her, a clean shave for him.

 

 _Clean_ , the key word here, in the appearance, to compensate for the dirty money they were making.

 

When her mother got pregnant she didn’t really felt like a mother, so their relationship always felt cold. Not bad. But cold.

But she did expect the most of her, from her grades to her posture; she let Brooke take ballet class and brushed the blonde hair she proudly passed down on her before every dance recital.

 

That’s why the moment Brooke graduated high-school nobody was surprised when she moved out from her parent's house, straight in an apartment in the center of the city, able to take care of herself, independent and strong as she had always been taught to be.

 

But now the words on her papers didn’t seem to make sense and she was honestly thinking about giving up studying for the day and going home when an angel in disguise came to her help.

 

“Here, take some fresh peach juice and try to relax a little before you set fire to those papers with your eyes. It’s on me” said Nina placing the drink on her table and sitting down on the closest chair. Nobody was gonna tell her anything for taking a small break, it was a calm day e besides there still was Honey taking care of the tables.

 

“Thanks daddy” Brooke smirked.

“You are welcome. But I haven’t seen you this weird since the breakdown you had on our second session of exams together” she mused. “I bet that-“ she began as she tried to read what was written on Brooke’s papers from the other side “- _Art. 198._ _Relocation in the role of magistrates already assigned to the Ministry_ is not what’s getting you so stressed. So tell me what’s up.”

 

“If you hadn’t given up law on the third year maybe you’d know that this article _is_ very stressful, bitch!”

 

 

Brooke and Nina met their first year of high school.

Being both gay and with a very bad sense of humor can do wonders to a friendship at that age.

When high school ended between joints behind their parent’s back, Nina decided to follow Brooke in the university she decided to frequent as she didn’t really like any of them, but with Brooke at least she wouldn’t have been alone.

After all Nina had it in her, the activism and the interest in justice, but it was obvious from the beginning that it wasn’t her destiny. She wanted to become a comedian and she knew it was the right choice when the third year she broke the news that she was leaving to Brooke and she _laughed_. Well, until she realized she was being serious; then, she’ll never admit it, but she cried a little bit.

 

Now she was working in the library’s cafeteria while being booked during the weekends in some bars, usually gay ones, beginning to make a name for herself. Brooke was happy for her, but from time to time she also missed studying together.

 

Nina was able to see right through her and when she didn’t respond to her joke Brooke could only give control up and let herself pour out how she felt.

“Like, one day she’s licking the marmalade off of my fingers calling me _Mami_ and the next she never wants to see me again-” Brooke explains “-what’s up with that?!”

The other girl seemed deep in thought as if conflicted about saying something or not.

“Look-“ she started “-it is not my place to tell you the reason behind her actions BUT just know it’s not something _you_ ’ve done.”

“And what would you know about that?” Brooke questioned,

“Believe me, she comes here like everyday; I think A’keria is her only friend, and she said some stuff to me. But as I said: It’s not my place to tell you.”

 

Brooke seemed surprised, her eyes began to cloud with worry. And Nina hated that.

  
“Don’t worry, she can take care of herself, she’s a strong one” she assured.

 

* * *

 

 

And Vanessa was.

She truly was.

That’s why when Vanessa found herself crying in the library’s bathroom some days later she was so shocked that she wasn’t able to stop or calm down. She knew the drill: breathe slowly, try to say the two-times table until it became the only thing in your mind. But numbers weren’t in her favor that day.

She had been trying to understand physics by herself and failed miserably every time. At the 17th failed exercise she dropped her pen and closed herself in the first floor’s bathroom stall. She had calmed down from a panic attack her sister and some of her friends many times before, but it’s much harder when you’re on the other side of it too.

            **Breathe**

_but what if I don’t pass the exam_

**Breathe**

_But what if dad’s right about my future_

**Breathe**

_But what if he’s gonna hit Ariel next_

**Breathe**

_Brooke Lynn-_

**Breathe**

 

But she couldn’t.

Not even when she heard knocking on her door and opened it without even realizing she did it.

 

_Brooke Lynn-_

Between her tears evinced the image of Brooke’s expression going from curious, to worried, to determined to help her, all in the matter of two seconds.

 

For the first time in a long time she let herself completely give up control, leaving every piece of her in Brooke’s swift hands- well, arms actually, as she looked like she was about to faint.

 

* * *

 

Brooke was very good in high pressure situations.

She always kept her cool and was able to find a solution to any situation, no matter how bad it was; so when she found Vanessa looking like she was about to faint, with tears streaming down her face and her breathing heavy and difficult, in about seven minutes she had already guided her breathing back to normal.

Her trick was making concentrate all of Vanessa’s attention on her: she took Vanessa’s fingers to her wrist and told her to listen to her heartbeat, knowing her body would adjust to her rhythm; to splashed some tap water on Vanessa’s make-up free face and held her on the floor of the luckily clean library’s bathroom.

 

As if she had awakened from a nightmare, Vanessa tried to get up holding tight on Brooke’s shoulders.

 

“Hey Vanjie” smiled Brooke

“Hey” sniffled Vanessa “I’m sorry about… all of that” she said untightening her grip and slowly sliding her hands from Brooke’s shoulders down to her forearms.

Brooke stopped her movements and brought Vanessa’s hands back to her shoulders, as she got closer and placed her own hands on her waist.

 

Then they hugged, held each other close, exchanging actions instead of empty useless words such as _thank you_ and _I’m sorry_.

They held each other for longer than enough, then slowly let go just enough to look into each other’s eyes.

It was a moment, actually **the** moment but no, it wouldn’t have been right: the universe decided that Yvie had to enter the bathroom right that moment. _They weren’t ready._

 

“Oh God, even here??” Yvie laughed before taking in their faces. “Okay. I’ll go the the other bathroom… upstairs.”

 

Left alone they let each other go and Vanessa, now calmer, washed her face with cold water while Brooke was thinking of what to say.

 

“Wanna talk about it?” she tried, knowing that sometimes it’s all somebody needs to hear. Judging from Vanessa’s expression looking back at her through the mirror it was the case. _Thank God_.

 

* * *

 

Vanessa took Brooke on the library’s roof.

She found out about this place thanks to A’keria; she told her she was the only one allowed to go there and that it was only for emergencies. What kind of emergencies she didn’t understand. Well, until that day.

It was a large gray floor with nothing but an amazing view of the city. It was still 5.30 p.m. and the sky was beginning to turn the warm orange that was usual in mid May evening.

 

They sat down on the edge and Brooke let Vanessa talk about her abusive father, her twin brother and her little sister, her dead mother and her struggle to be at the same time a great student to keep the scholarship and a great mother figure in her family to keep everything under control.

How she had to fight so hard to get into that university but _God, how she loves it_. How she loves the idea of curing children and how _frustrating_ it is to be unable to pass the physics test, how it reminded her that she wasn’t as strong as the circumstances made her believe she was.

 

Brooke just listened carefully without saying much, she nodded when Vanessa looked for support and trembled of rage every time Vanessa’s father was mentioned, particularly when she showed her a bruise she got just a couple of days prior on her arm. And she was still talking about that _damned_ test.

 

“We could study for it together” Brooke suggested impulsively.

Vanessa looked at her with a questioning look “Physics? You know how to do that shit?”

_Hell no she doesn’t._

Like every humanistic subject oriented person, and gay woman, Brooke hardly knew the result of 2+2.

 

“ _Yeah_ ” she lied.

 

“You would do that for me?” asked Vanessa, looking at her like she hung all the damn stars in the sky, leaving to Brooke really no choice,

“Are you kidding me? Sure!”

 

The smile Vanessa gave her emotionally repaid her the night she spent awake trying to learn _all_ the physics the internet was able to teach her.

 

* * *

 

 

The moment Brooke got to her apartment it was 8 p.m. so she cooked herself a nice home-made dinner. Ate. Then prepared herself the first of many,  _many_ coffees that were gonna assist her during the night. She sat at her desk and began.

 

It was 2 a.m. when she got to basic high school level knowledge of physics, and goddamn it, it was still as hard as she remembered. But this time she was in for the bigger game.

It was 5 a.m. when she was confident about knowing the context of what she had to explain to Vanessa.

It was 7 a.m. when she had gone through Vanessa’s exam topics a few time and felt like it was enough.

 

She didn’t close eye that night and her appointment with Vanessa was at 4 p.m. so she fell into a deep slumber up to 3 p.m.

 

_Fuck physics, honestly._

her last thought before falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual i really appreciate when you leave feedback.  
> I'm @sohytes on tumblr :^)


	5. V. rousseau and a honey flavored lipstick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brooke helps out Vanessa and Nina forgets that she can act better than this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all are happy with the daily updates because I am lmao!  
> I'm that crazy writer that wants to write a slow burn but also wants to get to the good stuff immediately so I have many chapters ready and just want to give them to you. 
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

It went so _fucking_ well Brooke couldn’t believe it.

 

She got to Vanessa’s table and she found her ready to work. If she noticed Brooke’s badly covered dark circles she didn’t mention them.

They began easy repeating some basic concepts and writing down the basic formulas without which Vanessa couldn’t understand the more difficult stuff. They gradually got into harder topics and Brooke learned that every time Vanessa furrowed her brows it meant that she was lost, so she repeated herself with more clear words and real life examples anytime it was needed, keeping an arm on the back of the other girl’s chair to get closer to her while looking at her in the eyes to keep her concentrated on what she was explaining.

Brooke didn’t consider herself a good actress but the confidence she was faking seemed to work on the the brunette. And honestly, in the back of their minds, they both found it kinda hot.

For example every time Vanessa got an exercise right Brooke would place her hand on the small of her back and say “good job baby” – and every time she got one wrong she would bite her lip, cross her arms and smirk a little till Vanessa realized by herself the mistakes she made. _How the hell does she make studying physics sexy??_

* * *

“Pst. Pssst. Yvie!” tried to call A’keria from the other side of the room.

Yvie turned her attention to her and mouthed _What??_ before A’keria gestured for her to go where she was. Yvie got up rolling her eyes expecting what was to come.

 

“No, I don’t know what they fuck they are doing. I just know they are LOUD and annoying. A lot of numbers too.“ she anticipated,

“Numbers? What the fuck?” questioned A’keria,

“Yeah numbers, I think they are doing physics. Actually, maybe I know more than that” she realized “I saw Vanjie really stressed out the other day, like, _really_ out of it. I think she got a bad grade and had a panic attack or something”

“What?? She didn’t tell me anything!”

“It was yesterday, I found her and Blondie hugging in the bathroom, her face was really red and shit” Yvie shrugged “I think Brooke offered to help her”

 

A’keria thought about it for a minute, lips pressed together while watching the two lovebirds from behind a shelf.

“Can I go now?” asked Yvie, impatiently.

“Is she good?”

“Who?”  
“Brooke Lynn, is she good?”

“Seems like it…”

 

Brooke was tucking a lock of hair behind Vanessa’s ear, smiling sweetly at her while saying something they couldn’t hear. Vanessa threw her head back in laughter and Brooke’s eyes softened.

 

“Yeah… seems like it” A’keria confirmed.

 

* * *

 

 

Vanessa was a fast learner and by closing time they both felt like the mission was accomplished.

 

To celebrate they stopped at the cafeteria before leaving to say goodnight to Nina and the girls. Nina smirked when she saw them come through the glass door talking and laughing even with tired eyes, Vanessa bumping her hip into Brooke Lynn’s lightly,

 

“Good evening, ladies-“ she greeted “-had a fun day?”

The shared a look and Brooke smiled saying “if you can call physics fun then it was the most fun I’ve ever had!”

“Shut up we had fun! You are the _best_ teacher!” beamed Vanessa hugging Brooke’s arm close, her attention more to Brooke than to Nina. Her eyes shining. Brooke was about to have a heart attack.

 

“Brooke? _Physics_? _Teacher_? Is this an innuendo for something sexual because _God knows_ Brooke Lynn Hytes **sucks** at-“

“-TEACHING!” Brooke interrupted Nina just in time “I suck at _teaching!_ But she says that just because once I tried to explain Rousseau’s thought about society to her and she didn’t understand shit. She’s just a bad student.”

 

Brooke hid to Vanjie the death glare she was giving Nina with her hand.

Nina went from confused to surprised to impressed and held Brooke’s game,

“Sure… _Rousseau_ ” Nina confirmed weakly making the other blonde wonder where her acting skill had gone so suddenly, internally face-palming.

 

Vanessa wasn’t buying any of it but she decided to let it go for the moment.

“Bye Nina, goodnight!” she said, taking Brooke’s hand and dragging her outside.

 

 

Brooke offered Vanessa a ride home but she refused, asking her to accompany her to the bus stop instead, which was a 10 minutes walk from the library.

They walked hand in hand in a comfortable silence just taking in the sense of pride from the day, and the beautiful atmosphere that the May weather was gifting them once again. The red sky gently reflecting on Vanessa’s skin making her look like a dream. Brooke felt her breath hitch when Vanessa interrupted the silence with the softest version of her voice,

“What did Nina _really_ mean back there?”

 

Brooke mentally cursed her friend but decided that it wouldn’t feel right to lie to Vanessa.

“I… I kind of hate physics, like, I’ve never been good at it. She knows I choose law mostly because there wasn’t going to be any math involved” she confessed,

“Then what was that today?” Vanessa asked, more curious than mad fortunately.

“Let’s just say I didn’t exactly _sleep_ last night. And not because there was a hot woman in my bed. Well not in my bed. There were only my cats there. But yeah _for_ a hot woman, actually” she began rambling and Vanessa was looking at her with an amused smirk and big eyes.

 

Then, suddenly, she wasn’t rambling anymore since her lips where busy kissing back Vanessa, her hands occupied by holding her waist closer while Vanessa’s curled around her shoulders, Brooke’s eyes falling shut in pleasure.

 

That kiss was so _deep_ and so _beautiful_ and so _damn short_ \- well, it wasn’t really that short, she just never wanted it to end. And when it did Brooke felt like she was missing a piece of herself; a piece she had just found, that made her complete for the first time in her life, that no money could buy and no other could fill.

 

Abruptly Vanessa wasn’t in her arms anymore, and she was waving her fingers at her from the bus’s window. Brooke hadn’t even seen it arrive, _hell she hadn’t even noticed they got the bus stop_.

 

Then Vanessa was gone and Brooke was left by herself; she brought two careful fingers to her mouth as if she could check if what just happened what real and not a delirious dream from a sleepless night.

 

The taste of honey that belonged to Vanessa’s lipstick now on her lips and fingers was a good enough proof, she decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you shook? Do you suddenly find physics sexy?  
> let me know here or on tumblr @sohytes <3


	6. VI. poppies, champagne and Britney Spears.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happy times and Brooke is one thoughtful bitch!

Vanessa’s test went _so_ good.

Well, it went well. She got a 25/30 which was more than she could have ever asked for in a physics test.

 

Even better than passing the test was being swept off her feet in a hug by Brooke, twirling while laughing between the 800’ literature and philosophy book shelves.

As the laughter died down and Brooke gently let Vanessa back on the floor, she took her face in her hands and whispered how proud she was of her.

 

They kissed for the first time on a Saturday night and the both of them spent their Sunday thinking about it; Well to stay they just _thought_ about it is an understatement: Vanessa dreamed it happening again with the only difference that she then dragged Brooke up on the bus with her. Brooke dreamed that she didn’t let Vanessa get in that bus at all. Both of those dreams making them wake up with a inconvenient heat inside.

 

Vanessa took her test on Monday so they saw each other again on Tuesday, and neither really felt like talking about physics for a while; Vanessa felt grateful that Brooke didn’t even ask how it went – not out of disinterest, more like out of desire to push the anxiety of knowing the result, that was a little bit hers too now, to when it was gonna be official.

 

They didn’t mention the kiss either, but it was clear that they were thinking about it, to the point that Vanessa felt like _Nina_ was looking at her lips too – well actually, she was

“Whatcha looking at my lips for? Do I have something stuck in my teeth or do you finally want some, baby?” she joked with a dumb wink, at some point,

“Neither, I was just following Brooke’s gaze and wondering the same thing about her-” Nina replied with a playful smirk on her lips.

 

They both blushed.

 

“-I can’t wait to tell A’keria about that.”

 

 

When she got the result it was the following Thursday and Vanessa felt like it was time to stop denying themselves something it was obvious they both craved so bad.

So she leaned in and-

“Can you please leave Marx out of your romantic encounters?”

 

If there had been a camera, Vanessa was sure she would have been looking straight at it like in The Office.

But she settled for scoffing at Yvie.

 

A breath away from each other, they opened their eyes and Vanessa took Brooke’s hand to drag her up the stairs, back to their corner. Yvie was downstairs so se knew they were alone, and frankly _she didn’t really give a fuck_ , so she locked the door behind them.

 

Vanessa guided Brooke to sit on the little vintage loveseat and straddled her, Brooke’s breathing hitched as she took in the sight on Vanessa’s short jeans skirt riding up her thighs; Vanessa’s hands placed on the back of the couch, on either side of Brooke’s enchanted face, her hair falling down on one side as she tilted her head.

Brooke felt like she was dreaming.

Vanessa’s heart skipped a beat as she felt the other girl’s secure, strong hands on her. One arm draped around her waist to take her closer, breathing heavily into each other’s mouth as the other hand caressed up her thigh. Vanessa instinctively moved her hips to the touch, feeling like she was putting on a show just for Brooke, and drew a sharp intake of breath as the older girl draped her nails over a patch of her soft skin.

_“Go out with me”_

 

Those were the words tenderly spoken by Brooke into Vanessa’s gaping mouth, and she understandably took several second to register she had said something, and _what_ she said.

 

_“Yes”_

 

 

 _Then_ they kissed. And _then_ they kissed again.

 

Clearly hungry for it, Vanessa’s fingers found their way to Brooke’s beautiful blonde locks, waving straight into her roots, pulling on them. Distancing her just enough to take control of the kiss. Deciding when to let their lips touch. Stretching out some wet kisses more than others and biting Brooke’s bottom lip to hear her groan softly.

 

Brooke let her take control, maybe because she was under some spell or maybe because she was being kissed so well that trying to make it any better seemed impossible. She just sat there with the most beautiful and smart girl she’d ever met, making out like teenagers in a public library.  _Heaven._

 

Neither could really be mad when they heard a loud knocking on the room’s door. Well not mad, startled for sure though – they kind of forgot that other people existed, their minds foggy, having drowned out anything else that wasn’t each other.

Vanessa weakly tried to interrupt their kisses, finding it challenging – and not very appealing - to free herself from Brooke’s grip.

 

Finally, the knocking only getting more and more violent spurred on Vanessa to open the door, only to find A’keria with an intimidating raised eyebrow.

 

“Heeey girl! Sorry! Closed it on accident! You know me, mama! Never happening again!” tried to let out Vanessa, still visibly out of it.

A’keria barely listened to her as she hummed skeptically, already looking around the room to confirm her suspicions.

 

“There she is” she beamed triumphantly as she found a very disheveled Brooke Lynn sat at their usual desk with the intention of acting like they had been studying the whole time, but trying to fix her lipstick in the small mirror she always brought in her purse.

When she felt the woman’s look on her back Brooke couldn’t really do much other than snap her mirror closed and search for Vanessa’s help to protect herself from A’keria’s scary stare, but the girl was too busy face-palming, while smiling, at the honestly ridiculous scene before her eyes.

 

A’keria slowly turned to Vanessa and the girl tried to act serious, like a scolded child, not really knowing if the librarian was mad – after all she may have crossed the line this time.

 

When A’keria loudly laughed in their faces, Vanessa took a sigh of relief, and Brooke did too as she saw her girl relax.

“We’re about to close-“ she began “-don’t you remain closed inside the library together.”

 

Brooke was sure that if anyone else other than Vanessa had done anything like this A’keria would have murdered them; she felt kind of proud that her charm got them by to another day of being alive.

 

Once A’keria had left, not sparing them of one last warning look, Vanessa positioned herself in between Brooke’s legs and took her face in her hands to kissed her gently.

 

“Let’s have dinner together Saturday night”

“I want to take you to Maria’s-” Brooke confessed taking her closer by the hips “-be there at 8 p.m. and let me take care of everything.”

“Maria’s? are you crazy? It’s the most expen-“ she tried before being hushed by Brooke’s kisses.

 

“You deserve it, baby” whispered Brooke in Vanessa’s ear, getting up from her chair, the other girl’s head thrown back a bit – small kisses descending from the back of her ear, down to her neck, and to her collarbones.

 

“I’ll be there."

 

* * *

 Brooke spent her Friday getting everything ready. She deeply thought about every detail, searching within her mind for what Vanjie might have told her that she likes

 

  * It was a Wednesday when Vanessa told her that she loves poppies.



It made sense: they were bright red and rare as they grew tall in unusual places – and the moment the air wasn’t good enough they stopped growing there all together. Her perfume was poppy scented, too. _Sweet_. So when she found out that flower shops didn’t sell them she went on a quest in the nearby countryside to look for them on the sides of the road. Unexpectedly she found herself in a poppy field and she felt like she had won the lottery. She got enough to make a bouquet, mixing in some cornflowers because they kind of reminded her of herself –  _they look good together,_ she thought.

She also stuck one poppy on the visor of her car.

 

  * It was a Friday when Vanessa mentioned that she doesn’t drink.



After that heart-to-heart conversation she understood that it was because she needed to be the responsible one of the family, and never wanted to be like her father. She only conceded herself to drink Champagne on special occasions, she told Brooke while laughing at how ridiculous she sounded even to her own ears.

Brooke had money, that was an unspoken fact, and she didn’t mind to spend it all on Vanessa. So she made sure to buy the best Champagne in the market, hoping that the restaurant was gonna let her take that from home – otherwise it was gonna be a surprise for Vanessa if she agreed to follow her to her apartment after the date, as Brooke hoped.

 

  * It was a Monday when Vanjie told her about her love for Britney Spears.



And it was still a Monday when Brooke told her she didn’t know shit about Britney Spears.

“You don’t know about _Hit Me Baby,_ you don’t know about _Oops I Did It!”_ she _accused._

They spent the rest of the evening making sure Brooke got her culture, what they had to study for university completely forgotten. It was a Tuesday when she knew nearly everything about Britney Spears.

she wanted to bring her something to remind her of that time and convinced the typographer to print a pretty picture of Britney on a mug with “Thank You Vanjie” written in a fancy font under it - in something close to an hour.

 

When Saturday night came, she felt ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did u catch the shane dawson reference? lmao
> 
> tell me what you think about it <3  
> here or on tumblr @sohytes


	7. VII. tea light red candles and the rain.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the first date.

Brooke got to Maria’s at 19.30, half an hour before planned to make sure that everything was perfect.

 

She was wearing a beautiful and very luxurious rose gold holographic dress, the draped V-neck cut deep down her chest, while the stretchy fabric hugged tight her hips and thighs making her look like a rich Greek goddess. Her wavy hair framed her face, blue and violet eye-shadow adorned the light in her green eyes and peachy glossy lipstick matched her dress.

Golden, big jewelry said enough about her desire to impress her date – not that she needed to try.

Under the dress, as she used to refer it as the last years of high school with her girlfriends, her best sex _-proof_ slip: color nude and lacey with little flowers. No bra.

 

As she was getting ready she thought about what Nina would say and laughed to herself; with how fast it all happened she hadn’t even had the time to talk to her about it. She sent her a mirror selfie with the caption _Mama’s getting it tonight._

West: **she sure is.**

West: **wait, wtf? What happened to Vanessa?**

Hytes: _I asked her out, bitch!_

West: **WHAT?**

Hytes: _YEAH_

West: **look at the Ice Queen melting!**

Hytes: _oh my god, shut up_

West: **im so proud of you!**

West: **also I can see the sex-proof panties through the screen. it’s your first date, you insensible cunt, she’s not gonna fuck you tonight!**

Hytes: _wanna bet €5?_

West: **BROOKE**

 

She smirked as she put her smartphone back in her purse and closed the door behind her.

 

The restaurant accepted the Champagne bottle Brooke brought, and put it in a bucket with ice. She adjusted the poppies bouquet as the centerpiece, red tea light candles, vanilla scented, scattered across the table.

Red candles.

As Brooke lightly passed the finger over the little flame she couldn’t help but observe how similar they were to Vanessa: both red, warm, hot, on fire.

They both hurt

 

The burning sensation on her finger barely distracted Brooke’s mind from the fact that it was 9 p.m. and Vanessa still wasn’t there. _An hour is nothing_ \- she rationalized in her mind.

The position of her table, close to the big window of the restaurant, gave her the perfect view of the door and every time somebody got through it and wasn’t Vanessa in a pretty short dress, Brooke desired to be blind.

Every waiter had stopped asking if she wanted to order anything around 10 p.m, after understanding from her badly concealed nervous but hopeful face what was going on.

Brooke cursed Vanessa’s lack of phone as her mind got from the phase of being embarrassed about getting stood up to the phase of being worried that something happened to her – but quickly abandoned that idea.

 

 

It was something close to 11 p.m. when Brooke absent-mindedly noticed that it had started raining.

 _Great_.

She said _fuck it_ and ordered a plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce and _a lot_ of wine without even looking at the girl taking her order in the eyes. The waiter didn’t dare to question her, as she took in her tired and sad expression, even though the kitchen was about to close and her turn was about to end.

 

The only other clients left were drunk or finishing up their desserts, and in the span of 30 minutes they had all left.

 

When her meal was ready she brought it to her table.

And decided to sit down in front of her with her own plate of spaghetti as her turn officially ended and she had to eat too.

 

“So…” the waiter began while graciously chewing “who’s dumb enough to bail on somebody that looks like you?” she tried, hoping not to sound rude.

 

Brooke surprised herself as she let out a bitter laugh. Her mind playing a game on her making her imagine Vanessa at the door. A dream in a dress. But she blinked and she wasn’t really there. _Obviously_.

 

“First date” she emptily explained “her name is Vanessa. She’s beautiful. I’m an idiot.”

She knew she was gonna sound very vague to the younger girl but she didn’t really have the strength to explain it any better, and she seemed to understand as she offered her a sympathetic smile.

 

“Do you think she stood you up on purpose?”

“I don’t know what I think” she realized.

 

Brooke roughly opened the champagne, without the enthusiasm she imagined she was gonna have when she bought it, and poured full two glasses – one for her and one for the pretty waiter. She softly smiled and thanked her.

 

“What’s your name?”

“Tiara, they called me like that because my last name is Plastique and my parents are _really_ funny”

“Pretty name for a pretty girl-” she breathed tired, barely knowing what she was saying. Her common-sense lost about an hour and a half prior, easily replaced with the feeling of drowning.

“-also I would know about funny parents, my name is Brooke Lynn Hytes.”

The waiter giggled and didn’t mention her first comment, instead she swiftly changed the topic as she read uneasiness in Brooke’s eyes.

 

 “I bet something happened” Tiara tried to comfort,  
“Hell, I hope not”

“No! I didn’t mean it like that! On our second anniversary my boyfriend overslept during his evening nap and didn’t come to our date. He left me waiting for him on karaoke night. You don’t do that shit” she elaborated.

Brooke wasn’t really in the mood but she always appreciated women’s solidarity as it usually made things feel lighter. It wasn’t the case – but she appreciated that she tried.

 

“Girls, I’m really sorry but we really need to close” approached another waiter as it was getting very late. Brooke knew the two waiters were leaving unsaid that the restaurant had been closed for a while.

“Of course, I’m sorry-“ she got up while taking her wallet “- I just need to pay and-“

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it” smiled Tiara as she sweetly placed a hand on hers.

Brooke felt surprised but was too tired to say anything other than “Oh, well… thank you then.”

 

As she was about to open the door she heard her voice call for her one last time

“Brooke”

“yes?”

“It’s not your fault.” she spoke softly as if she was answering the question that had been occupying her mind for the whole night. “I mean, I bet it isn’t. You’re great”

 

The blonde was a little taken aback but she quickly recovered.

“Thank you. I hope to see you again.”

 

They exchanged a sympathetic smile, and then Brooke left.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Vanessa hadn’t forgotten about their date.

 

Hell, she could hardly focus on anything else as she attended a special evening course at her university.

“Children's Nutrition”

It would give her loads of credits and it was about exactly what Vanjie wanted to work with in her future job. When she realized that it was the same day as her date with Brooke she snorted thinking _obviously it is_ but judging from its poster the conference was meant to start at 5 p.m. and finish at 6.30 p.m. so she decided to go anyway, trusting her ability to get ready in an hour.

 

 _Obviously_ the world hated her enough to make sure that the professor Soju felt the inexplicable need to talk to the people there about her fucking cyst for half an hour before being stopped by professor Monet which tried – and failed – to get back on schedule, speeding up through her presentation as she understood that it _was_ a Saturday evening and people had other things to do too.

 

The bus from her university to her house was a 30 minutes ride and Vanessa felt victorious when she was able to catch it at 7.15 p.m.

Then she felt not-so victorious when the bus missed the stop and she had to take a 10 minutes walk from the following stop to her house.

Approximately 7.55 p.m. and she still had to get ready.

 

She stopped before opening the door of her house, took a deep breath as she knew that she was gonna find the usual scene, and she really wasn’t in the mood. But she had to get through all that shit to get to Brooke, so she opened that _damned_ door.

 

Apart from his father’s usual screams from the kitchen, she found her sister laid on the couch with a pained expression and a hand to her forehead.

 _Fuck_.

 

“Hey baby, what’s up?” she got closer, sitting on the couch, still breathing heavily from how fast she had walked from the bus stop.

“I think I’m sick” she muttered.

_If I’m not gonna help her then who is? Not them for sure._

Vanessa took Ariel’s temperature and the thermometer read 40°C. As she tucked her in bed and prepared her some chicken soup to take before the Tylenol she deeply thought about what could have she done to hurt God so bad that he had to do all of this to her.

_Is it the gay thing? Are you still mad about it? God, I thought we got over it last Easter._

When she looked at the clock and it signed 9.17 p.m. she convinced herself that it wasn’t too late, so she quickly tried to put on some make up on while preparing her apology speech for Brooke in the mirror.

She chose an orange and turquoise sequin jersey dress with fishnets tights and opted for trainers instead of heels as she knew she had to _run_.

In 45 minutes, a personal record, she was ready and at the door at 10 p.m, confiding in the bus’s usual delay that _obvious-fucking-sly_ decided to be on time for the first time in Vanessa’s life.

She had to wait till 10.20 p.m. thinking about all the wrong decisions that got her to that point in her life. _Only 40 more minutes and you’ll be in Brooke’s arms come on, hold on._

She got on the bus and she damned the day she was born as she realized she forgot the wallet and the ticket inspector got on the bus two stops before she had to go get off. 

_Jesus Fucking Christ it’s a Saturday night don’t you have a family to go home to?!_

She was sat in the last seat of the bus, and she observed the inspector get closer and closer as she _prayed_ to get faster to her stop, her heart beating like a headache, biting her already short nails.

To her disbelief they got there before he could come up to her, so she took advantage of his distraction and swiftly got off the bus before he could notice her. _Catwoman, bitch._

 

11.05 p.m. and she only had left a small walk to the restaurant as it began to _fucking_ rain.

_As if **this** is what’s gonna stop me, God, you trying me for real today bitch._

She was drenched, dripping, soaking wet within minutes and the only thing that was keeping her sane was the sight of the sign of the restaurant that was getting closer and closer with every step. Then she got at the door.

 

_Beautiful_

That was the only word in Vanessa’s mind as she stopped at the door and saw Brooke Lynn through the big window, sat at the table with sad eyes and fingers busy playing with the flame of a tea light candle.

All the chaos in her mind from the day silenced by that single word that carried with it a peaceful calm that allowed her to smile as she brought her hand to the door handle. But just a moment before she could push it down she saw Brooke’s eyes rise to look at—

 

_“So… who’s dumb enough to bail on somebody that looks like you?”_

 

The stranger sat across Brooke and began eating with her, Brooke’s sad eyes softening at the other girl’s words – Vanessa couldn’t hear them but she could _imagine_ them. Her muscles froze. _She’s laughing._

 

Vanessa felt like she wasn’t deserving of the warm atmosphere inside the restaurant, she wasn’t deserving of interrupting Brooke’s conversation with a pretty girl, wasn’t deserving of chiming in more than three hours late and pretend her attention and _love_.

Vanessa felt deserving of the cold that run down her spine, deserving of the wet clothes that added a weight on her shoulders that left her barely able to breathe.  

 

So she let go of the door handle and watched for a moment her reflection on the glass – raindrops mixing with the tears she _didn’t deserve to shed._

 

The journey home felt less frantic but decisively more miserable.

The next bus ride was gonna be in 10 minutes so she sat at the bus stop, waiting. The silence of the city hurting her more than any words could at this point when her eyes were caught by a single poppy growing on the side of the road, with a silver cat brushing her nose against it and despite everything, the image drew a smile on her face.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 Brooke got home not much after midnight, an ironic tired smile as she cleaned up her bed from the rose petals she had scattered around before leaving, then secured back the candles in her drawers.

 

Only as she remover her make up in the silence of her apartment she let a couple of tears fall.

  

 

Hytes: _I owe you €5._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am s o r r y.
> 
> @sohytes on tumblr.


	8. VIII. dyke hair-cut and and dirt on the floor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brooke is frustrated, and like any frustrated lesbian she gets an haircut. from two other lesbians.  
> Vanessa is a jealous mess. Nina is really good with shoulder massages. maybe too good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note about school:  
> in Italy after middle school you can chose which kind oh high school you want to frequent. In this chapter art school and beauty school are both mentioned: in those other than all the normal subjects you also study special ones that relate to what you want to do/study after. 
> 
> Writing this story I considered this a bonus chapter and I intended to post it as such but I ended up really liking it, so I decided to just consider it a normal one. I hope you'll enjoy it!

There are many ways a _perfectionist_ can react to something important not going _perfectly_.

 

Some blamed other people, some blamed God’s plan, some blamed themselves till sweat was dripping down their brow as they decided to run until they couldn’t feel their legs anymore.

 

Brooke, tragically, was that last kind.

 

After that dreadful Saturday, Brooke stopped going to the library, opting instead for falling back in the habit of jogging at 4.50 a.m. with her phone tied through an armband on her muscular bicep. Her Chicago blue cropped tank top showing off her abs to nobody but the early birds; her red Adidas sweatpants low on her hips.

 

She tested herself in ways that couldn’t be healthy: push-ups till she felt lightheaded while listening to The Edge of Glory loud in her Bluetooth headphones, gritting her teeth and forcing herself to do ten more every time caramel skin and a pearly white smile forced themselves in her mind whenever she heard the word “ _you”._

And obviously nothing says _lesbian having an emotional breakdown_ like getting a nice short hair-cut.

 

* * *

 

“What are we gonna do today, mama?” grinned Katya as she massaged gently Brooke’s scalp as she looked at her through the mirror.

 

“I don’t know, I kinda like your current hair-cut tho” Brooke contemplated, relaxing in her fingers, as she looked at her short blonde straight bob,

 

“No-“ interrupted Trixie getting into the frame of the mirror _and_ into the conversation “-I don’t see it. Then I’d get you two confused. The world isn’t ready for the both of you with the same dyke hair-cut.”

 

Trixie was the owner of the Honey Salon; very cute, vintage style, known for their propensity for doing weird colorful hairstyles and… lesbianism.

 

Brooke met Katya in art school, they weren’t in the same class since Katya was one year older but they did share their fair amount of joints and exes.

 

Well, before Katya had met Trixie.

 

Brooke recalls with a smile on her face when Katya told their friend group, Nina included, that she had found the love of her life, talking for hours on end about her big blonde hair, soft curves and her dream of opening up a salon. Once Trixie graduated beauty school she somehow convinced Katya to follow her in that dream.

Nobody wanted to let Katya try cut their hair for the first time – until Brooke said _fuck that_ and let her do it, _who cares_ she thought _._ She was young.

_“Now that’s what I call lesbian solidarity, bitch!”_

Katya gave her a precise undercut and honestly everybody was just impressed she didn’t end up bald.

 

In the matter of four years Katya learned the job very well and Trixie inherited a Salon from her old teacher that claimed to see something in her, something special.

Everybody that has seen her work has understood what she had meant, Brooke included.

 

Considering her role, it wasn’t unusual for Trixie to jump in her costumers’ consultations to give her two cents, and Brooke had learned from her past experiences to trust her judgment – so she just agreed.

 

“Oh baby, you wish there could be two dykes with this hair-cut between your-“ Katya began to tease placing her hand on Trixie’s ass, before being interrupted by her seemingly unimpressed girlfriend – whose annoyance was only betrayed by the side of her mouth being slightly upturned – that grabbed a magazine and flipped through the pages until she found the picture of the hair-cut she’d been looking for.

 

She pointed at it to show it to Brooke and asked: “I think that would look hot on you, do you like it?”

“Sure, looks amazing” she answered.

In five seconds she was found the look that she hadn’t been able to verbalize for days.

“Perfect.-” She smiled at Brooke before continuing: “-Get to work” she encouraged Katya before slapping her ass as payback for before and going to another client on the other side of the room.

 

_“God, I’m gonna marry her” Katya thought out loud._

* * *

 

 

“Vanessa Mateo you feeling some type of way, today?” questioned A’keria as she slammed her hand on Vanessa’s desk to wake her up from her apparent slumber.

 

“Don’t say my name like that” Vanjie groaned, as she stirred, her face still resting down. She wasn’t sleeping, she was just sad, and when A’keria understood that, she toned her attitude down.

 

“Then tell me what’s going on” A’keria said, softer, one hand caressing her back.

 

“It’s just- I, I fucked up… real bad this time” she muttered, looking for the right words, that never seemed to be there. She didn't feel brave enough to look at anybody in the eyes, not even her closest friend.

 

“Why don’t we go sit down in our spot and talk it through? Come on, let’s go.” she asked taking her hand.

 

And they did.

They sat on the library’s rooftop and talked way more than A’keria's break theoretically allowed her to, but nobody was gonna check her.

 

“The thing that I can’t stand the most is the fact that seeing her with that other girl hurt me, and honestly I know I deserve it, but I can’t _believe_  she would do that!” Vanessa reasoned, not even crying, just extremely resentful and bitter.

 

A’keria pursed her lips trying not to say _I knew it_ but her raised eyebrows and salty look said enough.

 

“Listen baby, it’s okay to feel hurt. It’s not your fault if you were late, it’s stuff that happens” she reassured hugging her closer, leaving a kiss on her forehead “and if that bitch thinks she can replace a diamond with a rock, worse for her.”

Vanessa snorted at her friend’s words.

 

“You should have seen that other hoe, all pretty and shit. Eating pasta with another girl’s woman like it’s something she’s allowed to do. She’s lucky I only saw the back of her head otherwise I’d be able to recognize her in the streets and she would catch those-”

“AS I WAS SAYIN’-” A’keria interrupted before things could get violent

“-you need to remember who _you_ are-” she said pointing at her heart “-what is _your goal-“_ she said pointing at her forehead “- and who is always here for you and _loves you.”_ she finished pointing at herself.

 

“ _God, I-_ ” Vanessa hissed as tears began forming in her eyes.

 

“And no blonde bimbo can take that away from you no matter how tall or hot she may be” she said chuckling, making Vanessa laugh through her tears too.

 

“Thank you. I love you” Vanessa whispered while hugging her closer, her face buried in A’keria’s shoulder.

 

“I love you the most, baby. –“

 

 

“-And if I see that bitch in this library again she _will_ catch those hands.”

 

* * *

 

 

The library was closed.

A’keria and Nina were the only ones left, busy cleaning up the cafeteria before leaving for the night.

 

“-and when she got to the restaurant she was there laughing with that ugly ass bitch-“ A’keria unnerved as she was sweeping the floor,

Nina, at the counter, looked up from the coins she was counting and skeptically – but amusingly – said: “but you just told me she only saw her from the back, you’re saying she’s ugly just because you’re mad!”

 

“Maybe so” she responded “but that’s not the point.”

 

“Kery we can’t just assume things. I’m sure Brooke had her reasons! Vanessa basically bailed on her after all-“

“She didn’t-“

“Yeah, _I_ know she didn’t do it on purpose, but _Brooke_ doesn’t know that.” she reasoned, “She hasn’t even answered any of my texts or calls since that night.”

 

A’keria sighed meekly, sitting down facing the glass door, the sky already dark.

 

“It’s just- Vanessa doesn’t deserve that, she’s such a good girl and everything always ends up being a mess for her and I just wish-“

 

She lightly shuddered when Nina’s hands unexpectedly but carefully laid on her shoulders, gently massaging them.

 

“shh… I know, neither of them deserve any of this mess and they should definitively talk about it together” she whispered as her touch got more strong, feeling the other woman relax in her hands.

 “yeah… talk” A’keria agreed, barely listening to what Nina had just said, lost in the pleasure she was giving her.

Nina looked down at her blissful face. The money on the counter forgotten, and the dirt on the floor too.

_“fuck, Nina”_ A’keria breathed out as she rubbed one particular spot on her back.

 

Nina swallowed the lump in her throat, then stopped. The heavy silence that followed matched the weight she felt on her stomach, as she closed her eyes almost in pain.

 

Not feeling her strong touch anymore A’keria realized what had just happened and got up, turned around and moved the chair out of her way to get closer to the other woman.

A hand caressed her cheek as if to say _I’m sorry_.

 

Nina didn’t want to open her eyes to see A’keria’s apologetic expression, but she did. And weakly smiled back at her.

 

“I’m almost done here” whispered A’keria as she took back her hand, quickly swept the final patch of dirt from the floor and threw it in the trash bag. Nina watched her frantic movements with remorse.

 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll close and-“ Nina said, interrupting herself as A’keria met her eyes while putting on her jacket, before getting closer again and leaving a swift kiss on Nina’s cheek.

 

“See you tomorrow.”

 

“I’m- yeah, tomorrow. Goodnight.” she got out, clumsily.

 

A’keria smiled back at her and Nina watched her leave, conceding herself the time for one last deep breath before going back to count the money.

 

 

 

_Fuck._

* * *

 

Late night, 3 a.m.

Brooke was in bed, her hand mindlessly stroking herself through her Calvin Klein underwear to a boring porn she was watching on her phone, unable to sleep. She was tired and the manufactured lesbian sex she’d found that night wasn’t doing it for her but as she was about to either close it or look for another one, the smaller girl on her screen muttered _something_ in an overly sexual moan that caught her attention.

 

The girl, Brooke now noticed, had slightly tan skin, she couldn’t really see her face as her head was thrown back in pleasure from getting her pussy eaten by a taller blonde girl -  with way too long nails for being credible. She also had a soft Spanish accent that came out when she moaned, which convinced Brooke she was Latina.

 

Victim of her own subconscious she hadn’t even realized who she reminded her of until she fucking muttered a pretty convincing “ _Mami, harder.”_

She replayed that part a bunch of times to assure herself she hadn’t gone completely crazy and started hearing things. And no, she had said that for real. So she replayed that part a bunch of times more, with her eyes closed.

 

_Fuck, she does sound like her._

She realized, a little stunned.

 

Brooke kept her eyes closed as she let the video play, focused on the sound of the girl’s voice that guided her hand like a song. She laid on her front, her hips moving to their own accord, meeting the movement of her fingers and if she tried hard enough the soft cotton between her fingers and her clit could simulate the sensation of a tongue, given how wet she was.

 

She pictured herself riding Vanessa’s pretty face when she heard the girl’s stifled moans as her own porn doppelgänger was probably doing that with her. Legs on either side of her face as her knees trembled and the grip on her hair brought her closer to where she _needed_ her to be.

Vanessa’s skilled tongue would draw circles, slowly, to tease her and only when her wetness would drip heavy on her nose she would dip inside.

Gradually, steadily deeper and harder.

She imagined Vanessa’s hands opening her up, holding strongly onto her thighs, but only working with her mouth until she couldn’t breathe. Then she would breathe in her smell and bite the very end of her inner thigh, leave a mark there. Then another. Then put her attention back on her pussy until Brooke would force her away due to her hypersensitivity.

She thought of all the things she would say to her as the pretty voice asked her “ _Am I good to you, Mami?”_

 

_No, baby, you’ve been really bad to me._

 

But Brooke came feeling her whole body tremble like she hadn’t been able to come in a while, and before she could think of what she had just done she had to take several minutes to catch her breath.

 

She saved the video in her favorites as she knew it would probably come in handy in the future, before her rational mind could chime in and ruin the party.

She decided not to dwell too much on what had just happened and go to sleep, if not for her dignity then for her sanity.

 

 

 

She only had three days left before she had to give back the book she had borrowed from the library.

_Three days._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> biiiitch.... I know. 
> 
> @sohytes on tumblr


	9. IX. dutch poetry and a white Volkswagen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanessa really likes Brooke's new haircut and she never hated her ass more.

 

Vanessa wasn’t doing good.

When she spoke to A’keria about the disastrous date, barely a week had passed, but when Brooke didn’t stop at the library for the following two weeks neither Vanessa went straight from sad to desperate.

 

She didn’t spend much time in her corner anymore; instead she stayed mostly at the first floor and in the cafeteria hoping not to miss Brooke in case she passed by.

 

Her interactions with Nina were now very weird.

Whenever Vanessa approached her she would casually try to bring the conversation from her coffee to Brooke, in case Nina had heard from her – without asking her directly.

But Nina just always looked at her with heavy compassion and a sympathetic smile that made Vanessa feel pathetic.

 

 

Almost a whole month had passed when Vanessa got caught by A’keria looking for way too long through a random bookshelf that was  _casually_ very close to the entrance of the library.

 

“Vanessa!” and the girl in question jumped in fear at the unexpected call-

“What the fuck have you been doing in the Dutch poetry section for twenty solid minutes?”

 

“Wait, _Dutch?_ I thought it said  _butch!_ What an idiot” Vanessa pathetically tried to joke.

A’keria just looked at her with a blank expression, which was arguably the worse reaction possible.

Then she barely opened her mouth to respond, before closing it as she glanced over Vanjie’s shoulder. As she watched who just got through the door her blank stare transformed into an alarmed one.

 

* * *

 

 

It was the day.

Brooke couldn’t avoid the library for long anymore, she knew that if she didn’t give the book back in time it would only make the situation worse and honestly she didn’t need to get on A’keria's even _worse_ side.

 

While in the car to the library she thought back about the conversation she had with Trixie and Katya a week before.

 

 

_“You know how I am, it’s rare that I care about somebody else like this, I thought I did everything right but apparently I didn’t” she sighed as Katya was washing her hair, carefully listening to her as hearing about lesbian drama was 40% of why she agreed to work in a lesbian Hair Salon._

_“Well, what did she say when you saw her after that happened?”_

_The silence that followed that question made Katya stop in her tracks and look at her from her position, upside down._

_And even upside down her shocked expression made Brooke bathe in shame._

_“Because… you saw her, right?”_

_“Well, I’ve been kind of trying to avoid her-“_

_“You, my friend, are a fucking idiot” Katya decided, shaking her head as she finished rinsing her hair._

_When she made her sit in front of the mirror again she looked at herself and, as if for the first time, she realized that maybe Katya was right._

_“What would have you done?” Brooke asked, with a defeated look_

_“I would have let her explain herself, you never know with those unpredictable femmes”_

_“said the stone butch!” laughed Trixie, taking the scissors from her belt and fixing up a side of Brooke’s haircut. “listen to me, you need to see her and talk to her. You can’t spend the rest of your life crying over spilled milk”_

_Broke was biting her bottom lip, worried she fucked up again ignoring her, when both Trixie and Katya said: “that’s it!”_

_As if she forgot where she was, she looked at her new look in the mirror pleasantly surprised. The short slick elegant quiff made her feel like a new person, more confident and in command of her life – yes, haircuts do that to lesbians in a crisis._

_“Cool, now that you’re hot go fucking talk to her”_

_Maybe they're right._

 

No, they were _completely_ right.

But she realized that in the parking lot of the library one week later.

 

* * *

 She entered the library looking down and walking fast, her head in the clouds as she was still debating to herself whether to look for Vanessa or not.

 

But first, the book.

 

She got to the counter and was relieved to see Shuga instead of A’keria; well until she gave her that awkward smile that basically said _I know it, everybody here knows it._

There was only one person ahead of Brooke and they were bald and weirdly passionately but elegantly looking for a book with a title that was way too long and way too French.

 Brooke was too anxious to be patient. Her foot was tapping the floor incessantly while she was biting her short nails praying every God she knew of and didn't believe in to make it fast.

When the gender studies pupil left, Brooke attempted a quick _good morning_ and handed Shuga the book – when she didn’t say anything in return she took it as a good sign.

 “Are we done? Yes?” she tried, and Shuga nodded. She debated for a moment to ask if Nina was working before deciding that it would be too dangerous. She gave Shuga one last smile and realized that apart from the weird silent treatment she just received from her, she was still alive, so she took a deep breath not really wanting to understand the reason behind the librarian’s curious smirk.

 

But yeah, she did understand it one second later when she turned around and a found Vanessa looking up at her with her big nervous eyes. She slightly jumped, hissing _fuck._

“Fuck! sorry, I didn’t expect to see you here”

“You weren’t expecting to see me… in the library?” Vanessa questioned with her head turned to the side, a hand on her hip and her teeth sinking with irony in her glossy bottom lip.

 

_How dare she act like this?_

“It’s not like you’re always where I expect you to be” bitterly remarked Brooke getting her face in Vanessa’s space, her red painted lips momentarily mesmerizing the girl, before beginning to walk away from her.

 

Vanessa couldn’t let her go like this, so she held onto Brooke’s red hoodie’s sleeve as she whispered  _wait._

 

“I’m sorry it’s just- I’ve been waiting for you the whole past month, Brooke. we need to talk” Vanessa pleaded.

 

“Do we? I think everything is clear” she lied.

Brooke knew she was reacting harshly because she was scared, but didn’t know how to stop.

 

“Yes, we do need to talk!” Vanessa insisted, getting closer and closer, her eyes were shining as she begged her one last time “don’t act like this, please.”

 

Her hand let go of Brooke’s sleeve to intertwine their fingers.

 

Brooke finally let her guard down as she truly looked at the other girl in the eyes.

 

“Okay, let’s go” she said as she began to drag her outside.

“Wait, where are we going?”

 

“I’m not letting Yvie interrupt this one too.”

 

 

They sat in Brooke’s white 2018 Volkswagen Atlas.

 

Vanessa was breathless as she hastily explained every detail of that night in her perspective. Brooke didn’t say a word but her face looked like the face of a child whose parents just told Santa doesn’t exist. _Everything she assumed about Vanessa’s perspective was bullshit._

 

“-then I saw you with that other girl and I thought _fuck_ and went home.” Vanessa tried to get over that part quickly as she was still feeling ashamed.

 

“Wait, which _girl?_ ” asked Brooke, confused

“What do you mean? There was _more_ than one??”

“No! What? There was _no_ other girl!”

“Brooke, please-“

“Wait a second, you mean _the waitress_?? Black hair? Slim? Asian?”

 

“I- Wait. What?!” now it was Vanessa’s turn to look like a fish out of water.

 

“Yeah! She was the _waiter_ and she was telling me about how her _boyfriend_ bailed on her too on their second anniversary! You know, because she saw me looking _miserable_ with a fucking withering poppies bouquet and melted ice in the champagne bucket” she emphasized.

 

“ _Poppies bouquet_? How in hell-“ Vanessa began questioning before realizing how thoughtful it was.

 

“You bought me a _poppies bouquet_?”

“Actually I hand-picked them in a poppy field in the countryside the day before since apparently _nobody_ sells poppies” she offhandedly clarified, looking outside the window feeling embarrassed.

 

Vanessa felt her heart explode but didn’t know how to express how fucking _in love_ she felt in that moment. So she settled for the old good _straddling-your-almost-girlfriend-in-her-expansive-car-to-kiss-her-until-either-of-you-pass-out._

 

Vanessa’s hands went straight to Brooke’s cheeks to control the kiss but once Brooke got over the initial surprise she took both of her wrists in a hand and looked at her in the eyes with a stern expression. The smaller girl thought, for a moment, that she did something wrong.

 

Then Brooke kissed her, somehow with a hint of anger that was actually the result of one month of built-up frustration. The way she guided the kiss made Vanessa melt under her powerful touch and she couldn’t do much other than moaning out when Brooke stopped kissing her just to make her wish to be kissed more. 

“You look so fucking hot with that haircut” Vanessa whispered in her mouth, not even trying to regain control as she was enjoying being completely in Brooke’s hands.

Brooke couldn’t help but smirk when she took in Vanessa’s languid eyes.

 

She let go of Vanessa’s hands in favor of bringing one to her waist and the other to push her seat down – Vanessa not even noticing Brooke’s multitasking until she got dragged down with her and whimpered in surprise.

 

Vanessa quickly got over being caught off guard with a smile and began to make out with the woman laid under her. Her kisses trailing down from her cheek to her neck, moving the red hoodie out of the way while at the same time Brooke’s hands were making her way down Vanessa’s spine, stopping at the hem of her short leopard print sweatshirt dress to linger for a moment on her ass before trailing down on her thighs to squeeze the soft skin there.

 

Brooke’s touch was making Vanessa breathe sharply on her neck which made Brooke stutter out a soft and hot _“Vanessa- fuck, I-“_

 

Then their little bubble burst as Vanessa’s butt accidental­ly honked the horn of the car.

 

Vanessa hit her head on the roof of the car as she jumped in surprise and Brooke watched her list every curse word she knew in alphabetical order as her worry turned into laughter.

 

She adjusted the seat of her car back to normal and brought Vanessa closer to her as she hugged tight her torso while still laughing.

Vanessa’s fake annoyance didn’t even last 5 seconds before she forgot the bump on her head to concentrate on holding Brooke back.

 

They kept hugging for a while, just bathing in the good feeling of being close together again.

Vanessa decided to let go only to hold her face in her hands again and say

 

“Let’s try again.”

 

“I don’t know Vanessa it’s a little uncomfortable in here, and technically we could be reported for public indecency by article 527 of the Penal code, that’s like a five thousand euros fine-“

 

“No! Not that!” Vanessa laughed “I meant the date!”

 

Brooke looked at her for a moment too long and Vanessa noticed the little change of mood. She tied her arms around her neck as to reassure her and spoke into her ear

 

“Wednesday my family will leave to visit my grandmother, and won’t come back until Monday” she said leaving a kiss on Brooke’s cheekbone,

“come over Saturday evening” another kiss, now lower,

“I’ll cook something nice for dinner” another kiss, now on the side of her mouth,

“we’ll watch a movie” and with one last languid kiss, she struck the fatal blow:

 

_“mh? would you like that, Mami?”_

 

Brooke had to close her eyes and her fists to stop herself from forgetting about article 527 of the Penal Code and fuck Vanessa right there in the parking lot of a public library. She opted for a sweet gesture instead.

She opened the sun visor and slipped the poppy she left there behind Vanessa's ear.

 

“I would _love_ that.”

 

 

 

Vanessa’s pleased smile as she moved back to the passenger seat reminded Brooke of a cat who got the cream – but in her mind it got easily overshadowed by the sight of her perky ass crawling over.

 

 

“I’ll see you on Saturday then?”

“Yes, you will”

 

Vanessa hurriedly wrote her address and the time on a piece of paper, then drew a heart next to it for good measure.

 

They kissed one last time goodbye and Vanessa went back inside the library to take her backpack and the stuff that she left at her desk before heading to the bus stop.

 

Hardly able to conceal her smile she sighed when, with her stuff she also found Nina and A’keria, at her desk.

They were waiting for her as one waits for the bus during a hot summer day, but she couldn’t really blame them for their curiosity.

 

“Well?? How did it go??” Nina was the first one to ask.

 

“She said she’s still mad and doesn’t want to see me, _or you_ , for a few months”

“What?!”

“Yeah, she thought that you were on my side since you didn’t even check on her…”

“Oh my God!”

 

Vanessa barely contained her laughter at Nina’s panicked face before A’keria ruined her fun.

“Nina, please, she’s _obviously_ lying” she smirked, placing a hand on the other woman’s shoulder.

 

“What makes you think that?” Vanessa questioned, pretending to be offended.

 

“The light in your eyes baby-” A’keria said as Nina awed.

 

Vanessa gently blushed.

 

 “-also the badly applied red lipstick on your lips that you weren’t wearing before” A’keria chortled " _and_  the poppy behind your ear!"

 

Vanessa threw her head back in embarrassment and groaned.

Then she took the poppy between her fingers and even though it was withered, she'd never liked a flower more.

 

 _Maybe my favorite kind of flower will be the Withered Poppy from now on_ , she thought to herself. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and wow, what a moment!
> 
> as usual feedback is always appreciated both here and on tumblr @sohytes <3


	10. X. delicious and disgusting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The actual first date.  
> They don't watch The Notebook.

Saturday.

 

The two previous days had been the longest in Vanessa’s life. She yearned for Brooke’s company and to think she was gonna spend the whole weekend with her made Vanessa excited in more ways than one.

She had been cleaning up her house ever since her family had left the previous day.

She decided to prepare some grilled chicken breast and veggies for dinner, giving her best in its presentation as she truly wanted to impress Brooke Lynn.

For dessert she backed a coconut Etan mess cake she’d found on Pinterest with the freshest ingredients and cutest flowers to decorate it, she was very proud of the result as it looked good and smelled amazing.

 

Arguably more importantly she decided what she was gonna wear in just two hours of internal debate. She couldn’t be too elegant as it was just a dinner at home, couldn’t be too simple as she knew it was gonna be a big night, so she decided to go for something comfortable but still sexy, and given the high temperature of June in Italy a leopard print tight camisole with black lace hem and an adorable little bow in the middle of her chest was perfect. And _just-in-case_ her panties perfectly matched – over them just simple black leggings.

 

When she was waiting for the doorbell to ring she took care of the last particulars.

The DVD player worked and it was ready to be set, the vanilla scented candles were lit and the lights were soft as she drew open the big window’s curtains and let the sunset bathe the room in a warm orange and golden tone with the support of a few floor lamps.

 

Vanessa felt confident.

Then the bell rang and she opened the door.

The sight in front of her made her forget about the dinner and the movie and the sun.

 

Brooke stood at the door with an open caramel silk shirt and tight slightly ripped black jeans, a golden watch on her wrist and an intense, precise cat-eye drawn with eyeliner; her short hair, looking softer than ever tied her whole look together. She looked like the perfect missing piece in the room, maybe because she was.

She seemed to be taken aback from Vanessa’s appearance, too.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t know what the dress code was” she tried to elaborate as if she didn’t look like a dream.

 

Vanessa hardly found the words to reassure her as she felt her throat become dry

“You look absolutely perfect-” then she threw herself in Brooke’s arms, unable to wait anymore “-thank you for coming” she spoke in the crook of her neck.

Brooke let the other girl relax in her embrace as she enjoyed Vanessa’s perfume in her nostrils.

“Thank you for having me” she muttered in her hair before giving her one big kiss and following her in the kitchen.

 

“Lose the shoes though, you’re already taller than me enough” Vanessa invited with a smirk, and Brooke happily accomplished taking off her black ankle boots.

 

As Brooke took in the other girl’s house, Vanessa took in the other girl’s appearance, looking her up and down and suddenly feeling very hungry.

 

“Was this your mother? You look just like her, it’s crazy” Brooke said looking at the pictures hung on the wall; Vanessa felt always proud when people told her that. “Yeah, we were in Sicily for my 5thbirthday” she smiled at the memory, and Brooke smiled at her smile.

 

 

“I don’t know about you but I really wasn’t feeling like eating pasta tonight, so I prepared something lighter-“ she said placing the tray on the countertop “- I hope it’s fine.”

Brooke’s eyes widened when she saw how mouth-watering the food in front of her seemed and couldn’t help but ask “Did you actually make it yourself?”

 

The Latina stopped in her tracks as if she had done something wrong and began stuttering “yes- but, but you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want! I also baked a cake, it’s fine!”

“A _cake_?” Brooke felt her heart flutter in fondness “Oh my god Vanessa you didn’t have to! I thought we were gonna order take out, this is incredible!” she gently laughed placing her hands on the girl’s neck from her sitting position on the barstool, letting her stand between her legs.

Once Vanessa understood that Brooke liked what she had prepared she beamed in happiness and reassured her:

 

“Baby you don’t have to worry, I love to cook.” she smiled placing a kiss on Brooke’s hand that was caressing her cheek “Especially for you.”

“And I love to eat… especially if what I’m eating belongs to you” Brooke smirked back.

Vanessa sweet kiss became a playful bite.

“You’re so dumb” she rolled her eyes, the faint smile never leaving her face. “Try it instead of saying dumb shit”

 

Brooke cut a piece of chicken, paired it with some veggies and put it in her mouth.

Her eyes shut in pleasure as its taste delighted her senses.

“So, how is it?” Vanessa questioned with curiosity,

“ _Delicious_ ” Brooke basically moaned out. The mixture of seasonings and fresh ingredients made the dish perfect and she already wanted more.

Vanessa grinned satisfied with her reaction, took a piece of grilled bread and spread some tomatoes, oil and salt on it “Try this, it’s a Bruschetta. It’s amazing” she encouraged.

Brooke secured one hand under the bread not to let anything fall and the other on Vanessa’s waist to bring her closer, bit into it looking straight at the girl in the eyes and once again couldn’t suppress her blissful expression as she felt its great taste wash over her.

Vanessa blushed at the sight and it seemed that how hot she was feeling wasn’t motivated by the June weather anymore.

 

 

They ate their shared meal between laughter and sweet smiles; Vanessa told Brooke about her passion for cooking, how she learned from the older women in her family, talked about how their times together were the happiest memories from her childhood, and how she never really got to do it during the week as she usually gets home too late. She learned that Brooke is probably the worst cook in the world as she once _burned **milk**_ while she was trying to make herself a hot chocolate.

 

It was beginning to become dark outside when they finished eating and Brooke slightly jumped as she remembered her gift.

“Wait! Before I forget-” she said extracting the small box from her backpack “- I brought you this.”

Vanessa opened up the gift looking like a child on Christmas and Brooke found her excitement deeply adorable.

When the girl saw the Britney Spears mug with “Thank You Vanjie!” written in a pretty font she took a second to realize Brooke personalized it for her, and once again she was stunned about how thoughtful the blonde was.

“Oh my God! Brooke Lynn! You wanna get married tonight or something?? Fuck!”

 

Judging by how she was looking at her, she probably directly wanted the wedding night.

 

Vanessa threw herself in her arms and Brooke caught her, tracing feather-like touches over the soft silk of her camisole. As the light in the room began to be prevalently artificial, everything felt more intimate; the touches felt like amplified by the silence of the city.

Brooke was feeling like there was a treasure chest hidden in _Vanessa_ ’s chest and she wanted to tear away her clothes as if they were the sand that kept her from owning the gold, the silver, the jewels and her _love_.

 

“How about-“ Vanessa began “-now we lay on the couch, watch our little movie while we eat the cake and then…” she trailed off.

 

“Then?”

 

“…then I’ll show you where you’ll sleep” Vanessa whispered as if she was out of breath from how hard Brooke had been staring at her.

 

 

“Why don’t you show me now?” Brooke breathed; the words were barely there, but spoken on Vanessa’s neck like they were gonna leave a mark.

 

Vanessa smirked.

 

“Because there are four bedrooms and a couch in this apartment. Based on how good you are tonight I’ll decide where you’ll sleep.”

 

 

Brooke broke their embrace to give her a challenging look. _As if you could resist one night with me in the bedroom next to yours without giving in first._ But she liked her games.

 

“Mean! What about the mug?!”

“That was a plus in your score, but since you’re complaining maybe you’d prefer sleeping on the couch…”

“Fine!” Brooke gave in. “What are we watching?” she asked as she laid on the big black couch.

 

Vanessa grinned and held up the two DVD cases “we can decide between The Notebook and Burlesque”

“Burlesque! I love Cher!” immediately declared Brooke.

“So be it” she smiled as she bent over to place the disk in the DVD player.

 

Brooke remained mesmerized by the sight of Vanessa’s thong’s outline under her leggings and contemplated for a moment if it was _really_ worth it being a good girl till the end of the night.

 

Vanessa placed her beautiful cake on the coffee table in front of them and she decided that _yes_ , it was totally worth it.

 

The smaller girl cut the cake in four pieces and arranged herself next to Brooke; both of them had their little plate with their piece and Brooke sled her finger on the cream to playfully paint Vanessa’s nose white.

“You stupid-“

Luckily, before Vanessa could react properly Brooke was already kissing the tip of her nose, cleaning her up. She wasn’t spared of a warning look with raised eyebrows, but Brooke knew she’d loved it.

 

“Exquisite, 10 stars”

“The highest score for restaurants is _3_ stars Michelin, bitch!” Vanessa explained,

“I stand by my rating” Brooke affirmed, and the Chef fondly laughed.

 

They ate their piece while watching the movie.

Then placed the cake back in the fridge and the dishes in the sink once they finished and went back to watch the film- only now cuddled up.

 

They spent the rest of it with one arm draped over each other – Brooke’s holding Vanessa head to her own cheek, Vanessa’s circling over Brooke’s waist in a comfortable manner. The two remaining free hands were intertwined. They exchanged kisses and caresses but still attentively watched and commented on the plot, admiring Christina’s performances.

 

Once the movie ended Vanessa turned to look at Brooke and placed herself in-between her legs, leaning over.

“You’re so beautiful-” Brooke observed, “-you would be an adorable burlesque dancer” she smirked kissing her.

“Bitch, don’t try me, you know damn well I can lipsync to Bound to You by heart”

“Oh, I’m _so_ challenging you to perform for me.”

 

“You’re gonna regret this.” Vanessa warned.

“I’m sure I will.” Brooke tried not to let her ironic tone prevail by smirking. _What’s there to regret about receiving a burlesque show from Vanessa._

Vanessa spent something like 5 minutes in her bedroom to change into _appropriate clothing_ as she referred it as to Brooke Lynn. When she came out the blonde realized that the girl wasn’t joking.

 

As the intro of the song played from Vanessa’s speakers she let Brooke take in what she was wearing leaning against the door frame with a knowing smile.

 

Her curly hair was now tied behind her head with a hair clip, leaving just some curls to fall around her face; She was still wearing the tight leopard print camisole, but her black leggings had been traded for the leopard print matching thong over black stockings and a satin garter belt. At her feet black stilettos – and, emotionally speaking, Brooke.

 

_Sweet love, sweet love_

_Trapped in your love_

 

Vanessa let her sheer leopard print mesh robe slid down from her shoulders to her elbows, looking at her woman with a glint in her eyes.

 

_I've opened up, unsure I can trust_

_My heart and I were buried in dust_

_Free me, free us_

Vanessa fell out of character as she laughed at Brooke’s shocked expression, but just for a moment.

Brooke still couldn’t believe she wasn’t dreaming it all up and had no shame in not being able to close her gaping mouth.

 

_You're all I need when I'm holding you tight_

_If you walk away I will suffer tonight_

Vanessa walked closer, slowly, like a cat. The low golden lights of the room didn’t help Brooke convince herself it wasn’t a dream. Vanessa was setting her core on fine by just looking at her, and it made her feel the need to sit up straighter.

 

_I found a man I can trust_

_And boy, I believe in us_

_I am terrified to love for the first time_

Vanessa turned around and let the sheer robe fall, her backside looking enchanting with her small waist and bubble butt; the garter belt strings biting into her skin in a way that made Brooke feel jealous of them.

 

_Can't you see that I'm bound in chains?_

_I finally found my way_

_I am bound to you_

_I am bound to you_

 

Vanessa completed her twirl and moved the robe away with the tip of her shoe. While still heatedly lipsyncing she took off the clip from her hair and she let it fall past her shoulders. Brooke followed her every movement, wishing she was recording it or that it could last forever.

 

_So much, so young, I've faced on my own_

_Walls I built up became my home_

 

In a swift movement Vanessa had lost her shoes and was down on her knees. Then she was crawling.

 

_I'm strong and I'm sure there's a fire in us_

_Sweet love, so pure_

Brooke watched her get closer, found it hard to breathe, if she thought she looked like a cat before, now she realized that even her attitude matched her camisole: she was like a leopard. And Brooke felt like her prey.

_I catch my breath we're just one beating heart_

_And I brace myself, please don't tear this apart_

Vanessa was now between Brooke’s open legs, which were firmly planted on the floor. Even if Brooke was looking down at her, both knew Vanessa held the power.

 

_I found a man I can trust_

_And boy, I believe in us_

_I am terrified to love for the first time_

 

 Something clicked in Vanessa’s mind. Brooke could tell.

She understood the words of the song, completely, on every level.

Vanessa was singing it with her whole open heart, on her knees for Brooke.

Brooke was tempted to touch her and tell her that it was okay. _It was okay_ to be terrified because she was right there and she wasn’t gonna let anything bad happen to her. Not now, not ever.

 

_Can't you see that I'm bound in chains?_

_I finally found my way_

_I am bound to you_

_I am bound to_

 

Suddenly Vanessa was up again with Brooke’s hands in hers. She guided them down her own torso as she straddled Brooke. As they were used to, at this point, Brooke instinctually brought her right hand down to Vanessa’s tight and turned her head to follow her lips, biting her own in need.

 

_Suddenly the moment's here_

_I embrace my fears_

_All that I have been carrying all these years_

_Do I risk it all, come this far just to fall, fall?_

 

Vanessa wasn’t gonna let her kiss her but she sure was gonna let try.

Brooke found that she was getting teased enough for one lifetime and decided to reciprocate by letting her fingers dip under Vanessa’s thong, grabbing the tender flesh of her ass.

 

_Oh, I can trust_

_And boy, I believe in us_

_I am terrified to love for the first time_

_Can't you see that I'm bound in chains_

_And finally found my way_

_I am bound to you_

Vanessa couldn’t deny being affected by Brooke’s touch, not when her hot breath was ghosting over her sensitive nipple and especially not when she was licking it over the material of her camisole. Her hands held onto Brooke’s hair as to scold her for taking away the power she had held for the whole performance. But she liked it.

She liked that she couldn’t mouth the words properly anymore, she liked leaning into the other girl’s touch, she liked giving her the power.

 

_I am_

_Ooh, I am_

_I'm bound to_

_You_

She liked it and once the song ended she gave in to it.

 

 

“Brooke?” she called

 

“Yeah” she answered, breathless

 

“Do you regret it?”

 

“Not one bit”

 

 

“Brooke?”

“Yeah?”

 

 

 

“Take me to bed” she pleaded.

_As if Brooke needed to be pleaded._

 

 

Brooke held onto Vanessa’s tights, her legs tied around her, got them up from the couch, kissing all the way across the room, inside the door of her bedroom, she pushed Vanessa’s back right against the wall.

She let her down on the floor, interrupting their kisses to turn Vanessa around. Her front facing the cold wall, her mouth still searching for Brooke’s kisses, her eyes closed, lost in pleasure. Desperate for it.

Brooke close behind, crowding her, one hand holding onto her hip the other circling her and descending from her neck, down to her left tit – it barely filled her hand, her thumb lightly playing with her nipple, enjoying the feeling of getting it hard given how sensible she knew Vanessa to be. Once she was satisfied with how deep Vanessa’s breathing had gotten she continued her descent to the brunette’s v-line – she traced it, feeling her thrust up at the touch, inviting her to go lower. And she did. She cupped Vanessa’s pussy over her thong and moved the silk to the side with her index and middle finger. Vanessa’s breathing itched as the air hit her labia, and it stopped for a moment when Brooke traced two fingers up from her opening to her clit, collecting her wetness, and brought it to her lips. Vanessa watched her put the fingers in her mouth and taste her through heavy eyes.

 

“ _Delicious_ ”

 

Vanessa’s legs were trembling as she turned around, but she decided to gather her last traces of control to push Brooke on her bed while breathing a frustrated “ _Shut the fuck up._ ”

She turned on her bedside lamp and watched Brooke chuckle at her sudden change of attitude, still licking the faint remaining taste of her on her fingers as if to declare that she still held the power.

Vanessa desperately undid Brooke’s belt and tore her shirt wide open not giving a fuck about the broken buttons she left in her wake – the other woman just found her neediness hot.

Brooke helped her taking off her own pants and her socks together in one go, remaining in her Karolina Laskowska’s bee charm set: the string that cut her waistline grazed her abs and her full breast spilled over the half cups when she lied down and let Vanessa straddle her hips.

 

Brooke guided Vanessa to take her camisole off and once again that night she could barely believe her eyes as the other woman stood over her in just her garter belt, stockings and thong grinding on her mound looking for friction Brooke wasn’t gonna give her yet.

She, instead, traced her way up to Vanessa’s small tits and enjoyed watching her face contort in pleasure as she began playing with them. She cupped them and Vanessa leaned in the touch; she gripped them, squeezed them and Vanessa's mouth dropped open as she held her hair up behind her head; she tickled her nipples and Vanessa fell weak into the feeling – Brooke caught her just in time to reverse their positions.

 

She kissed and held her girl’s legs up and together as she slid the thong off from where it rested over the garter belt – which now was the only item she had left on her beautiful body, accentuating it.

 

Vanessa looked out of it but at the same time concentrated and waiting for Brooke’s next move.

 

“Would you look at that” Brooke said, her fingers grazing Vanessa’s sex “such a pretty pussy.”

She bowed down and licked a straight line on her labia. Vanessa jerked at the contact, moaned.

“You lost your words, mh?” Brooke smirked from between her legs.

When Vanessa didn’t respond she roughly circled her thighs with her arms holding Vanessa’s ass up from the mattress, her face closer to where she needed her and she whimpered

 

“ _Mami, please_ ”

 

Brooke regretted teasing her, had to take a moment to catch her breath and strengthen her hold on Vanessa’s thighs – Vanessa caught her reaction even in her hazed state and smiled at the realization that she had found Brooke’s weakness.

Brooke bit the skin on her inner thigh, sucked on it, left marks. Her tongue drew a heart on her skin and Vanessa’s hopeless romantic heart melted – even if they acted as if it was a battle for dominance there still was an underlying sweetness that distinguished having sex from making love.

 

And they were _making love_.

 

Brooke started slowly licking Vanessa’s pussy up and down, breathing on it, nuzzling her clit with her nose. Vanessa was looking at her but Brooke wasn’t, she was too concentrated on her pleasure – and honestly, her own too as she loved eating pussy; she would do it for hours in normal circumstances but since it was Vanessa’s pussy she would do it for _days_ on end.

The faster she got the harder it got for the other girl to breathe, particularly when she penetrated her with her tongue.

 

 _So wet I’m going to drown down here_ she thought to herself, grinning.

 

Unable to resist Vanessa held onto Brooke’s hair as she was going down on her, her short soft hair was destined to look good all fucked out anyway.

 

“Your fingers, please, Brooke-“ she groaned “-I need them, Mami”

 

Brooke kept eating her out but freed her right hand to bring it to Vanessa’s mouth, putting her middle and ring finger in her mouth. They held each other’s stare as Brooke made her choke on her fingers. Once they were wet enough she stopped eating her out to look at her pussy, blow on the wet mess it became, then dipped her middle finger inside.

 

Brooke was out of breath and watching her pussy stretch around her finger as if she was studying it, Vanessa was looking at her doing so – and she wanted to kiss her. So she did, she took her cheeks between her hands and held her up to kiss her.

 

Tasting herself on her tongue shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did and Vanessa whimpered and began sucking on her tongue, twitching when Brooke took out her finger only to put two back inside and started moving them. The way the took them all the way off before dipping them all the way back inside made Vanessa go crazy – couldn’t even keep up her kisses, ended up breathing in her mouth muttering _Mami, oh my god, Mami, so good_.

 

Brooke sat back on her heels and held onto Vanessa’s waist with one hand as she licked her palm and began fingering her with three fingers with the other, hard and fast.

            She found the perfect angle and Vanessa gave into it, throwing her head back and screaming as Brooke’s movement grew more firm, strong and bold as she curled her fingers with ease.

 

Brooke experimentally brought the hand that was on Vanessa’s waist up her body, to her neck. Gently tightened her hold as if to test her reaction and she looked at her just for a moment in shock before throwing her eyes up in pleasure and shaking against Brooke’s touch.

 

She came hard, unable to say anything, Brooke’s movements became gradually more and more sloppy as Vanessa’s little spasms enraptured her attention. She couldn’t help herself when she instinctively lied down and licked the wetness off her still convulsing pussy – more for herself than for anything else. Vanessa still shivered in over-stimulation at her action.

 

“ _Fuck, Brooke-“_ was the first thing Vanessa came up with as she caught her breathe after two minutes “-that was the best I’ve ever been fucked.”

 

Brooke had kissed up her body and laid next to her, looking at the ceiling. Vanessa’s words woke her up from her bliss and drew a smirk on her face.

 

“The best you’ve ever been fucked _yet_ ” she said in a lewd tone, taking her hand back to her pussy-

 

“Don’t play, I’m gonna pass out if you touch me again” Vanessa weakly swept her hand away, chuckling.

 

Vanessa took the water bottle she always kept on her nightstand and drank half bottle, leaving the other half for Brooke – who accepted it gratefully. Vanessa watched her drink, sweat dripping down her neck, forehead, back. Her arms, always so strong, now holding the bottle with a subtle tremor. Her hair looked fucked out, her eyeliner was somehow the only one that survived untouched.

Her body looked amazing, full breasts, thighs and ass, long legs and everything about her seemed so perfect. So deserving of getting fucked.

 

Vanessa was, now, another kind of thirsty.

 

She took the empty bottle from Brooke’s grip and threw herself on her, kissed her, licked inside her mouth, her hand keeping Brooke’s face still as she fucked her mouth with her own.

“I want to taste you so bad, I want you-“ she spoke into her ear as they grinded together “-sit on my face, _please, Mami”_ she pleaded.

 

Brooke just nodded – they haven’t invented a word that accurately portraits how much she wanted it so she just didn’t waste any more time talking.

 

Vanessa skillfully unhooked her bra while still making out, the way her boobs spilled out made the smaller girl consider giving up University to spend the rest of her life buried in them. Brooke was less sensible than Vanessa in that spot – as it was difficult being _more_ sensible than Vanessa in that spot – but she enjoyed watching her girl get lost in the pleasure of playing and licking her tender skin, affectionately accepting the love bites Vanessa was leaving there.

 

Sliding her panties down her long legs felt like unwrapping a gift, _but better._

Brooke’s hairless pussy seemed dripping honey and Vanessa wanted to taste it. She knew she wasn’t gonna find one thing in Brooke that was out of place, but Brooke’s tight lips seemed drawn by a kind Goddess with the sole purpose of being eaten by her. Vanessa smiled up at Brooke, shook her head in disbelief, and Brooke had just the time to raise an eyebrow before Vanessa tasted her for the first time and _both_ moaned.

 

Brooke tapped her cheek to remind her what they initially wanted to do, and Vanessa understood. The blonde climbed up the other girl’s body and straddled her face. _To be honest_ she could come just by the way Vanessa was looking up at her, at this point. But she wasn’t gonna give up that easily.

 

She held onto Vanessa’s hair softly and moved her hips, the brunette let her move on her tongue as she wished, before passionately sucking on her clit. Vanessa’s hands held her open by her inner thighs _just like she thought she was gonna do that night._

_In person_ , Brooke decided, _it was immeasurably better._

Vanessa let Brooke drip into her lips and began fucking into her with her tongue, stimulating her clit with her nose. Brooke grinded on her face telling her how good she was being.

 

“You’re doing so good, baby. Eating me out so good, _got mommy so wet for you_. You like how I taste? It’s all for you, my sweet girl”

 

Vanessa mindlessly nodded and kept going, faster and faster. Brooke’s heavy breasts bouncing as she held onto them with one arm, and onto the headboard. The bed was moving with Brooke’s hips and the image of her with a strap-on crossed Vanessa’s mind - but she diligently put it away not to lose her rhythm.

 

As she was eating her out she circled her hand over to her clit, rubbing it in time, strong and restless, making the blonde let out broken moans that transformed into clenched teeth and a strong grip on her hair during her final thrusts on her tongue.

 

She climaxed with a force that surprised both of them and Vanessa didn’t dare to stop fucking into her till Brooke fell to her side, exhausted.

 

Neither felt like moving, the warmth of the room sticking the covers to their sweaty skin. Sex in the air, heavy eyes, light hearts. Vanessa found just enough strength to turn off the bedside light, secretly grateful for the ones in the living room she couldn’t turn off as they let her see get a faint glimpse of Brooke’s content face.

 

 

She cuddled up against Brooke and she welcomed her in her arms, if they hadn’t just made love they would find it disgusting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked that 5k words chapter, I feel fucked out just for writing it <3
> 
> you can find me @sohytes on tumblr and scream at me all you want!


	11. XI. skin and white sheets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> their weekend together.  
> spoiler: they literally just fuck, a lot.

The sun shone through the sheer yellow curtains waking Brooke Lynn up.

 

The first thing she saw was _skin_.

Caramel skin, collarbones, inviting nipples the color of mocha.

 

Her arms enveloped Vanessa in a tight embrace, their legs intertwined, her head laid on Vanessa’s chest as the girl was hugging her head – as if she was intentionally keeping her close to her heart.

Brooke looked down at the garter belt and stocking Vanessa was still wearing, wondering if they left marks on her skin overnight, wanting to soothe them out.

 

Vanessa was still sound asleep, relaxed and at peace with the world. Brooke wanted to hold her closer, but it was hard as their skins were already basically stuck together. Hard, but not impossible.

 

Brooke gently moved her head to nuzzle her nose against Vanessa’s nipple, letting her tongue go soft as she flickered it till it stood hard against her mouth. Her body, responsive as usual, shuddered lightly and Brooke wondered if she was gonna enter her dreams or wake her up first.

Brooke sucked on it, teased it with her teeth, kissed it, licked it and sucked on it again, then Vanessa woke up.

 

The first thing she felt was _wet_.

Sweat, her thighs, Brooke’s saliva all over her but mostly her rough tongue stimulating her nipple.

 

She thrust her hips as on instinct and whimpered. Brooke noted she woke up and looked up at her with a smile so big Vanessa felt her heart double in size.

 

“Good morning, princess” Brooke’s husky morning voice was what pushed her over the edge.

Too much too soon, _she just woke up for fuck’s sake._

Vanessa used their hold on each other to lay Brooke on her back and climb on her.

 

“Oh, I’ll show you a good morning” Vanessa’s _even-raspier-than-usual_ voice drew a smug on Brooke’s face, as she also liked the words it delivered.

 

Brooke snapped open the clips that were attached to Vanessa’s stockings and unhooked the garter belt throwing it away, then laid her back to gently peel off the stockings kissing her way from her open inner thighs to her calves just because she could.

 

The sight of Vanessa spread out and open before her made her understand why they called Sunday the day of the Lord. But the other girl was impatient and she got up, tied her arms around her neck and brought her down with her to make out.

Their boobs touched, and even given their differences it felt perfect.

Their kisses were open and wet, tongues sliding off on each other, completely lost the initial concept of kiss as if they traded it for the need to merge into one. Vanessa trailed her kisses down yearning for more, traced a path over her cheek and her neck – which she found to be particularly sensible. _Noted._

She laid Brooke down on her front as the blonde smiled and surrendered at her kisses that began trailing down her spine. One bite on her butt made her curve out her spine laughing presenting her sex pretty in pink, shiny in wetness, inviting as it peaked from under her perfect ass. Vanessa bent to leave kisses on it. Vanessa pushed Brooke’s middle to lay on the side as her legs opened up leaving space for the brunette to set between them. Brooke face down, ass up was a pleasure to watch.

 

“That flexibility comes in handy, huh?”

Brooke answered jiggling her butt with a grin, and Vanessa slapped it playfully.

 

Vanessa held her cheeks open as she began eating her out, her tongue parting Brooke’s lips going back and forth from her bundle of nerves to her opening, Brooke leaning into the contact as she got more and more wet, letting Vanessa taste more and more of her.

She freed her right hand to stimulate Brooke’s clit with her four fingers, at a constant pace that got Brooke trembling and moaning obscenities. The friction was perfect, and Vanessa’s tongue dived inside her wanting, throbbing hole as her hand was still rubbing her in just the right place.

 

 _“Fuck Vanessa! Oh my God, faster, do it faster, fuck me faster baby”_ followed by a moan that would make Brandi fucking Love blush.

 

“Ok, what the fuck was that-“ scoffed Vanjie, not stopping the fast torment of her hand on her clit “-so you _are_ that kind of white tall blonde lesbian that only exists in porn!”

 

“Vanessa, I swear to God-“ the girl interrupted her using the wetness she collected to dip two fingers inside while still laughing at her. “- _fuck_ , oh God, deeper!”

 

Vanessa would be lying if she said that her ridiculous moaning didn’t turn her on.

She held onto her curved middle, keeping Brooke’s shoulders down with one arm, to control better her movements and fucking into her with even more force and at an even quicker pace. Brooke’s eyes were closed shut against her own arms, muffling her screams. When Vanessa curled her fingers and began jerking her fingers up and down, Brooke’s legs closed and her pussy clenched her in as her first, of many, orgasm of the day hit her.

Her tense body shivered as Vanessa guided her through it, moving her fingers even in Brooke’s tight grip, amused. She gradually relaxed as Vanessa licked her a couple more times for good measure, mirroring Brooke’s action from the previous night.

 

It was morning, but Brooke was already face down, spent and fucked out in the sheets of her girl’s bed.

 

Vanessa got up still smirking “babe, I’m gonna take a shower-” she told her with a soft voice “-the door is open” she kissed her forehead.

 

 

As Vanessa expected Brooke only found the strength to get up from the bed once she was done with her shower and was brushing her teeth, so she left it to her with a playful toothpaste-y kiss and went to the kitchen.

Brooke also took a quick shower – used Vanessa’s floral shampoo and conditioner that she liked very much – and brusher her teeth with the toothbrush she brought in her backpack.

She had the time to reflect on the previous night but she could hardly concentrate, after the shower she felt recharged and she wanted nothing more than to go in that kitchen and _eat_. And she’s not thinking about breakfast. At all.

 

She quickly put on her black Calvin Klein bralette and soft grey sweatpants, not really caring about putting on a t-shirt as she was convinced it wasn’t gonna stay on for long anyway. She leaned on the bathroom door while drying off her short hair with a towel watching Vanessa prepare pancakes.

 

When Vanessa heard the door open she couldn’t suppress her smile as she waited for Brooke to approach her.

She did; she placed her warm hands on the naked skin of her stomach as Vanessa decided not to bother with a t-shirt either. She was just standing in a pretty lacy white bra and flowery flowy short shorts making pancakes. Brooke began kissing her neck softly as Vanessa kept cooking undisturbed. The blonde didn’t like being ignored and the way Vanessa was deliberately trying to rail her up made her take it as a challenge.

 

Her kisses began being wetter, open-mouthed, started from the bottom of her jaw down to her collarbone where she left a nice bite, that got Vanessa's head back thrown back in the crook of Brooke’s neck. She then went back up with a lick to her earlobe, which she nibbled, before sucking on it, Vanessa hands leaving the pan to reach behind Brooke’s head and get her closer with little whimpers that  _technically_ declared Brooke the winner of the challenge.

 

When they started smelling _burnt_ pancake Vanessa’s eyes flew open and her brain went back in responsible mode, as she quickly turned off the stove.

 

Brooke laughed at Vanessa’s alarmed expression and she hit her with the kitchen towel scolding her for _almost making her burn her house down._

“Go sit at the counter and let me prepare breakfast, cunt” ordered Vanessa faking authority.

“Well, they say you’re what you eat after all” she teased back, ignoring her orders

“Oh yeah? Wanna tell me about that Mrs.  _Oh my God, faster, fuck me faster baby_ ” asked Vanessa mimicking Brooke’s moans from just half an hour before.

Brooke’s jaw fell open in shock at the girl’s audacity and slapped her ass playfully before grumpily following the order to sit at the counter and wait.

 

After 5 minutes the pancakes were ready, paired up with fresh orange juice and some red strawberries. Brooke loved it, or at least she loved the way Vanessa looked at her while she was eating it. Not even three pancakes in Vanessa was already sprawled over the countertop with her legs open on either side of Brooke’s head.

 

Her shorts and underwear were thrown somewhere over Brooke’s shoulders. Every dish got moved to the side to make space for Vanessa, while Brooke was happily smothering in the breakfast she had wanted all along.

She ate her pussy with fervor, she licked into her with even more need and less grace than the night before, she drew eights in her wetness and Vanessa felt herself thrust back into her mouth. Brooke sucked on her clit eliciting groans, the sounds in the room were obscene with how soaked they were.

 

Vanessa could have lasted much less time but she forced herself to edge for the longest time possible just because she loved the feeling of Brooke’s hungry mouth on her. She never seemed to get tired and Vanessa was finding it hard not to come when Brooke spit on her and her own juices got mixed with her saliva.

 

She gave in when Brooke began flickering her tongue on her reddened clit and she came with a trembled moan barely keeping herself from strangling the girl between her thighs.

 

Brooke made her cum without even touching her with her hands and it wasn’t even noon.

What was most crazy about it is that she was now sitting back, eating strawberries with a smirk on her face as if she hadn’t just turned Vanessa’s life around.

 

 

* * *

 

 

After they finished washing the dishes together they sat back on the couch to open up Netflix and watch some random episodes of The Office with their hands all over each other.

It felt like they were magnets and every obstacle between them had been removed.

Brooke held her arm around Vanessa’s neck cupping her tit inside her bra, playing mindlessly with it as Vanessa had her head laid on Brooke’s chest and her own hand resting on Brooke’s inner thigh, gently grazing it, drawing cute shapes.

 

Needless to say, they fucked on that couch, pushing lunch to 2 p.m. and feeling way too fucked out to cook any kind of food.

They put on some clothes and ate in a little bistro down the road.

 

The day was beautiful, the warmth matched the feeling in Vanessa’s belly. She chose to wear a little red sundress with a deep v neck, red lipstick to match, while Brooke opted for a denim short romper.

They walked hand in hand to the bistro with a joy that looked like madness from an outsider perspective, especially when Brooke twirled Vanessa in the middle of the road just to watch her pretty dress flow - Brooke didn't pay too much attention at Vanessa's attempt to keep it down with a blush.

They happily discovered the bistro also made sushi and had a nice lunch, with just the appropriate amount of teasing.

 

On their way back to Vanessa’s house Brooke only left her hand to go pluck a poppy on the side of the road, and Vanessa watched her do so with a smile on her face before she felt _something_ nuzzling her calves and her smile grew even bigger as she recognized the silver cat from their date night.

 

She got on her knees to scratch its little head and Brooke bit her lip in affection and told her about her own two cats at her parents’ house,

“I would love for you to meet them”

“Wait who? Your parents?"

“Oh no- I meant my cats, but like… yeah, my parents too I guess”

“I’d rather for you not to meet my dad for sure” she joked, but her eyes weren’t smiling.

 

For the first time that day her joy didn’t reach her beautiful eyes and Brooke wanted to bring it back there, fast.

She took her hand and kissed her, the cat climbing up their legs and nuzzling her nose against Brooke’s cheek making Vanessa laugh,

“Get out, pussycat! She’s mine” she emulated offense with a grin and began kissing Brooke’s other cheek. Brooke’s arms circling the two kittens that were fighting for her love – don’t tell that to Vanessa, but she was for sure winning it.

 

 

The rest of the day was spent on a bliss.

 

Once they got back home Brooke went into the bathroom to wash her hands and Vanessa came inside the room to throw some dirty clothes in the laundry basket. When they _accidentally_ fell on the floor and Vanessa had to bend to pick them up. Brooke naturally turned around to help her get them but she was met with the sight of her dress slightly riding up a little too high, only to show just more _skin_.

 

Brooke watched her get back up and look at her with a cocky smile and Brooke had to mask her surprise to get back into her dominant role.

She crowded her against the sink and held her head still. Vanessa expected a kiss, but it never came as Brooke licked over her lips to make sure to ruin her red lipstick. The brunette’s eyes turned dark and the blonde pushed her back to the living room.

 

She bent Vanessa over the couch, moved her little dress up and confirmed her theory that she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

 

“You’re crazy” she chuckled.

Vanessa just looked back at her and bit her bottom lip with a smirk.

Brooke spanked her ass and watched her smirk turn into an open-mouthed moan.

So she spanked her again and her eyes closed in the feeling.

Another spank and Vanessa whimpered “harder.”

Brooke watched the reddening spot and evaluated if she could take a harder blow or not. Given how she was squirming for her hand, she decided that she could.

Not only she could, but she also loved when Brooke let her thumb linger on her cheek, only to slide it between her folds. The blonde was once again amazed at how easy it was for her to get Vanessa wet.

 

“Tell me what you want, Vanessa”

“You, Brooke, your fingers-” she mewled _“-spank me again, Mami”_

“I wish I could deny you something, you know-“ she spanked her again “- but you make it so hard for me, baby” she concluded caressing where she had just hit her.

“I like it” Vanessa grinned.

“I do too” she said pushing two fingers inside her.

 

Vanessa met her halfway and fucked herself on Brooke’s fingers. She was wet, dripping down her legs and if Brooke wasn’t too busy spanking her fat cheeks and fucking her hole she would be licking her soaked thighs. Vanessa sucked in her two long fingers, demanding _more_.

“What, you think you can take three?”

“I _know_ I can take four, Mami”

 

Brooke had never wished she owned a strap-on more than in that moment, wanted to show her what she could do filling her up and fucking her out. Leaving her satisfied and spent in a puddle of her own juices.

But she didn’t really need a strap-on for that.

 

She circled Vanessa’s body and held her up with her knees on the pillow, Brooke’s torso to the girl’s back, one hand squeezing her tit, the other slapping the inside of her thigh to open it up. “Good girl.”

Her long arms got her fingers to Vanessa’s opening and her middle dipped right in, letting her adjust to the new position. The ring finger and the index followed not too long after, and Vanessa was trying to get them deeper by closing Brooke's hand inside with her legs. “Take it slow, princess.”

Brooke was letting her fingers drop out then back in at a slow pace, her palm barely grazing her clit, but Vanessa was already lost in the sensation. “Now we’re gonna move on to four, ok?”

Vanessa was barely able to nod when Brooke put in her pinky too and began fucking her properly.

Her fingers rubbing over her clit every time she fingered her, leaving her unable to stand it if wasn’t for Brooke’s grip on her neck and jaw that kept her lips attached to her own – not kissing, no, Vanessa couldn’t master that now, more like open-mouthed screaming obscenities way too far gone to care who heard.

Brooke kept fucking her roughly when her body went incredibly tense as her orgasm hit her, and kept fucking her roughly as Vanessa fell deadweight against her with a pleased smile. Vanessa thought she would stop but she didn’t, and kept rubbing her pussy till she was three orgasms deep inside her and her hand was coated in Vanessa’s wetness.

Once she stopped, Vanessa took Brooke’s fingers to her mouth and licked them clean, Brooke felt soaking wet at the vision of the girl being so dirty even when she had just come three times.

 

 

* * *

 

 

They slept for a few hours, cuddled up in Vanessa’s bed, everything was nice when Brooke woke up and heard Vanessa’s stomach growl. She tried to untangle herself from their embrace without waking her up and went to the kitchen to prepare something to feed her with.

 

Now, Brooke wasn’t a cook. Everybody knew that. But who doesn’t know how to prepare pasta?

 

 

Turns out: _her._

When her spaghetti caught on fire she said fuck it and ordered take out.

The intent? Great. The execution? Not so much.

 

She called the Chinese restaurant and ordered some dumplings, two portions of noodles and a few spring rolls, she explained not to ring the bell as it would wake up Vanessa, but to text her instead; when they did she went down the apartment complex’s stairs wearing just her CK bralette and sweatpants.

 

“Hello, this is for Mrs. Mateo” checked the deliver guy,

“Yeah, that’s me” confirmed Brooke

 

“Wait a second, this ain’t Vanessa” said a womanly voice from behind her.

“No, I’m Brooke, nice to meet y-“

“Why are you taking Vanessa’s order, what do you want?” she woman questioned with a suspicious tone, as she stopped watering the plants.

“I’m a friend of hers, don’t worry, she’s sleeping upstairs-“

“A friend you say?”

 

“M’am can I go?” asked the boy that was still handing her the food.

“Sure, sorry, thank you!” Brooke said giving him the money, with a €10 tip.

 

“And, if you excuse me, I will go too,” she said moving past the woman.

“You know what, I’m gonna come say hi to Vanessa” _she still didn’t trust her_.

“I don’t think it’s an appropriate time-”

“I do.”

 

Brooke was weirded out by that interaction but it’s not like she had the strength to stop her.

As they got to the door it opened by itself with a sleepy confused Vanessa, wearing just her sheets wrapped around her body, that lightened up when she saw Brooke.

“God, I thought you left!”  she said, sounding impossibly sad, as she jumped in Brooke’s arms.

“Sorry, I was downstairs, I ordered take out and had to go get it at the door and-“

The woman fake coughed from behind Brooke to get Vanessa’s attention – which was a very hard thing to get with Brooke in the room.

 

“Oh God, Silky the fuck you doing here, bitch??” Vanessa smiled at her, Brooke’s arm circling around Vanessa’s shoulders to bring her closer with a salty expression on her face, as if to say _in your face, bitch._

“Just… checking in” she answered narrowing her eyes at Brooke, looking her up and down.

“Everything is fine, what happened?” Vanessa asked at the both of them, feeling like she got caught in a crossfire.

 

“I’ve been hearing you … _scream_ … all day, then this… _girl_ … takes food by your name… I just wanted to make sure everything was… _fine”_ Silky spoke slowly as if she was trying to tell Vanessa something that Brooke shouldn’t understand.

 

Vanessa rolled her eyes at how dumb her friend was being; she had the habit of being nosey and even though Vanessa found it funny, Brooke seemed almost freaked out.

 

“Everything is _fine,_ Silky, don’t worry about me and go get fucked sometimes okay?”

Vanessa chuckled as she pushed Brooke Lynn back inside her apartment,

“You getting fucked enough for the whole apartment complex, bitch!”

“GOODNIGHT SILKY!” she closed the door on her face but she still heard her loud ass voice through the door saying _GET IT, BITCH!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will Brooke ever be liked by any of Vanessa's friends? hell no.
> 
> Hope you liked that chapter, please let me know what you think, I thrive on feedbacks <3  
> @sohytes on tumblr, come read my tags they are funny!


	12. XII. The girlfri-end.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vanessa is a bookworm and she loves Brooke back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incredible but true: I'm still alive and this is the last chapter of this story.
> 
> and hell yeah fratboy adidas is in it!

“Brooke”

 

No answer.

 

“Brooke?”

 

Still nothing.

 

“Brooke Lynn!” 

 

Vanessa took the matter in her hands as she straddled the sleeping beauty and began tempesting her face with kisses.

Brooke wanted to play for a little longer, she did, but she couldn’t help the smile that grew on her face as Vanessa traced her lips from her jaw to the tip of her nose and then to her forehead. Realizing she was acting, Vanessa got closer to her ear and whispered seductively a rough _“Mami”_ which drew Brooke’s hands directly to the swell of her ass.

 

“Oh, she’s awake now, huh?” Vanessa teased,

Brooke fluttered her eyes open and smirked sinking her fingers in her naked skin, responding to her teasing tone with a nice slap.

 

Vanessa threw her long silky hair on the side with a swift movement and as she was just about to begin grinding on Brooke, bathing in her adoring glare, she heard a noise coming from the front door, like keys trying to unlock the door and then dropping drown, voices-

 

_fuck_

 

“FUCK!” Vanessa whispered as she froze, took in Brooke’s naked body under hers, her expression still blissful, and got up quickly putting on the first dress she saw on the floor.

 

“no come back here baby come on” protested the blonde, still half asleep.

 

“My father is at the front door, get the fuck up!”

 

Brooke’s eyes shot open as if the fire alarm had gone off.

 

“FUCK!”

“Yeah, that’s what I said!”

“My backpack is in the other room!”

“Just, quickly, borrow something mine and I’ll distract him so you can take your stuff later”

 

“Vanessa?” they heard the man’s voice calling from the other room

“I’m coming!” she fretted trying to fix her hair in a ponytail to hide how fucked out they actually were.

 

“Not the first time I’ve heard that one”

“Shut the fuck up and get dressed!”

“That one, on the other hand, is a first”

Vanessa threw a big (on herself) t-shirt straight to her face.

 

“Led Zeppelin? What kind of dyke are you?” Brooke asked looking at the band logo on the shirt,

“the one that ate your pussy yesterday, GET DRESSED!” 

 

When Vanessa felt like she was presentable enough she gave one last kiss to Brooke,

“Thursday I’ll give my last exam of the year, Saturday there will be a party – frat party mess, to celebrate the end of the semester, I didn’t want to go but I had to said yes, long story short: wanna come with me? Please, I know they are annoying, you don’t have to say-“

“Yes”

“- yes?” 

“yes” accompanied by one more kiss.

 

“I’ll send you more info on Facebook”

“Facebook? How old are you?-“

 

“Vanessa?!” her father called once more: “who’s there with you?”

 

She opened the door with a smile plastered on her face: “nobody. ‘Was talking to myself” 

 

Vanessa distracted him taking him to the kitchen and asking him about their trip, how was her grandma and how disappointed he was in her for not coming – she had heard it a million times so she just tried her best to get his attention to let Brooke tiptoe around the house to collect her stuff. 

 

When Brooke waved her goodbye from over his shoulder, her father trying to find a picture he wanted to show her of the family’s old dog, Vanessa remembered how loud their door is when you open in from the inside so she waited for Brooke to get close to the door and _coincidentally_ dropped a glass the moment she opened it to mask the sound.

 

“Vanessa! Be careful for God’s sake!” he scolded.

She braced for an impact that never came, sobered up from the few days spent with his mother that didn’t let him drink around her, thankfully.

“Sorry” she said taking a broom to tidy up, satisfied in how she was able to let Brooke sneak out.

 

“Wait-” Vanessa realized 

“-Where is José?”

 

“Oh he should be at the door, I asked him to bring the bags up for me – you know how my back is”

 

_Fuck._

 

* * *

 

Brooke had successfully put on her pair of jeans and zipped her toothbrush back inside her backpack when she waved Vanessa goodbye from over her father’s shoulder, thankful for Vanessa’s idea of dropping the glass as she opened up the door.

 

She was holding her boots in her hands, t-shirt way too tight, hair messy in every direction and love bites on her neck – not the best condition possible to have the elevator opening up in front of you with your girl’s twin inside, looking at you looking at him with a confusion quickly faded into realization.

 

Brooke hinted a quick _good morning_ as they exchanged place in the elevator, trying not to draw too much attention on herself – but the smirk now present on the boy’s face told her enough.

 

The elevator door closed and Brooke drew a deep breath hoping that she didn’t just put Vanessa in trouble.

* * *

 

 

The front door opened.

José stood there with two big bags in his arms, a weird look on his face.

 

Vanessa looked at him as he left the bags on the side of the room and helped her fix the mess she made on the floor.

 

“So-“ he started “-had fun this weekend, huh?” 

 

Vanessa groaned.

 

 

* * *

 

 

  * _Vanessa Isabella Mateo has sent you a friend request_
  * _Brooke Lynn Hytes has accepted your friend request_
  * _Say hi to your new friend!_



 

Hytes: Hey hottie, you single?

Mateo: I’m gonna block you

Hytes: what else is facebook for

Hytes: you need to buy a phone

Mateo: ugh I have one I just never use it, I detoxed because I was using it too much and I feel and study much better without it. But I suppose I could keep an old phone for emergency purposes after that… mess…

Hytes: what a responsible girl, well done

Hytes: & Definitely

Mateo: yeah, anyway, the party: Saturday at 9 come by my house and I’ll guide you there

Hytes: wanna come spend the night at mine after?

Hytes: given a fratboy isn’t gonna steal you away from me

Mateo: please yes

Hytes: nice

Hytes: good luck for the exam baby

Mateo: thank you mami, you too

 

* * *

 

 

The exams went well for the both of them: Vanessa had spent the night studying while Brooke had already everything ready two days in advance – well, Vanessa was ready too but the night before the exam’s nerves always got to her head. 

 

Vanjie celebrated going to the hairdresser and dying her hair black and getting it straightened out, smirking thinking of what Brooke was gonna think of it given her lewd comments on Cher when they were watching Burlesque. 

Brooke celebrated going shopping to buy something nice to wear for the stupid party Vanessa was gonna take her. She decided for an elegant deep cut black blazer dress that was way too extra for the occasion but she loved the idea of letting everybody in the room know she set her standards _so_ high, that nobody could treat Vanessa better, that they were too much for them. 

Then she was gonna take her home, and at the end of the night it didn’t matter what dress she wore because it was gonna end up on the floor.

 

Brooke got to Vanessa’s apartment complex’s door at 9 p.m. as planned, and she was 15 minutes fashionable late as predicted – but after seeing her, Brooke found it completely understandable and acceptable. 

Vanessa was wearing a caramel leather corset top that turned nude on her precious beautiful skin and sexy baggy brown pants with a slit up to her left thigh that let Brooke see her beige fishnets. Golden chain on her neck and-

 

“Your hair!” beamed Brooke as the girl got inside her car, Vanessa smiled and threw it around.

“Do you like it?” she asked,

“I love it-“ she run her fingers through it and held her close to kiss her “-you look beautiful baby”

“yeah? I was inspired by Rihanna”

“love that”

“you’re giving me Cate Blanchett tonight”

“Ocean’s 8 took a turn, huh”

“as if it was straight to begin with” she scoffed.

They drove to the party discussing the unfairness of lesbian roles being perfectly played by straight actresses with ugly husbands and deciding that if Titanic had young Winona Ryder instead of Leonardo DiCaprio it would have been ten times better. 

 

Once they got to the house Brooke parked on the side of the road and insisted on opening the car door for Vanessa – which called her dumb, but the dreamy smile on her face told another story.

Brooke finally took in the house and rolled her eyes at how cliché it looked: fairy lights, red cups with dull alcohol inside and all.

 

“Whose house even is this?”

“a certain Haiday Faminoff-“ said Vanessa “-I’ve only seen her a few times but she insisted that I came tonight” she shrugged. 

 

They made their way inside, Brooke visibly trying not to make any physical contact with the sweaty shirtless fuck boys – Vanessa trying and failing not to laugh at the disgusted expression on her face.

 

“Vanessa!-” a high voice chirped from behind them “-you came!” 

The voice belonged to a blonde thin white girl with bright blue eye-shadow and annoyingly pink lips, and if that wasn’t enough for Brooke to be irked by her presence, the way she went straight for a hug with Vanessa definitely was. The girl warmly hugged her back and thanked her for the invitation, her usual sweet tone not bothered by Haiday the way Brooke’s sixth sense was.

“Come! Let me offer you a drink!” she said as she grabbed Vanessa’s hand completely ignoring the existence of boundaries-

 

“Actually, she doesn’t really drink” said Brooke as she placed a protective arm between them and looked down on her. 

 

Haidey watched Brooke get in between them with a puzzled expression before observing the way Brooke’s hand rested on Vanessa’s waist and raised her eyebrows before meeting Brooke’s glare - which got particularly stern at her reaction.

 

“Vanessa, you didn’t tell me you’d bring a-“ she spoke directly in Brooke’s face “-friend.”

 

The petite girl would cringe at the way Brooke’s jaw set if she didn’t find it so hot.

“Yeah sorry about that, she’s Brooke Lynn” to which the taller girl gave a tight lipped smile.

 

Given how tense the air had got between them Vanessa decided to lighten up the mood by accepting Haiday’s offer for a drink – not getting spared of a side eye from Brooke. _A Cuba Libre ain’t gonna kill nobody, Brooke._

 

* * *

 

 

A Cuba Libre didn’t kill anybody, in fact, but Brooke got really close.

 

The annoying music was blasting through the speakers in a way that would make Brooke call the police if she were the neighbour - luckily for the host she was holding back for Vanessa’s sake.

Then God - or maybe just the DJ she had been giving the stink eye for playing Ed Sheeran and friends for the whole past half an hour - decided to grace them with Rihanna. Vanessa’s mood quickly improved as she recognized Sex With Me and Brooke wished she could say she didn’t find amusing the way the smaller girl had the strength to drag her dancing, but her energy was one of her favourite things about her. 

Her energy, _yes,_ also the way she was lip-sycing about fucking her directly to her face.

While she danced, Brooke was able to really take in how good Vanessa looked in that outfit, the baggy pants hugging her ass just right, and when she turned around just to lay her back on Brooke and grind against her she was completely lost in the feeling of the song. Brooke’s hands travelled from her waist up her torso- still careful not to give the frat boys a show they didn’t deserve.

Talking of _not deserving-_

“Hey pretty girls! Are you having fun?” asked Haiday as she began dancing on the other side of Vanessa, trapping her in a blonde sandwich that she didn’t seem to mind – quite the opposite actually.

“Yes, bitch!” Brooke just assumed it was the alcohol in her system acting as Vanessa tied her arms around Haiday’s neck and brought her closer to them – in turn the other girl’s arms held onto Brooke’s waist closing the smaller girl between them. Brooke didn’t lose the wink the host casually threw her way before following Vanessa’s rhythm, swinging her hips with her and forcing the tallest girl to do the same.

 

* * *

 

                                                                                           

How they found themselves sat in a circle with a bunch of drunk frat boys and former cheerleaders playing truth or dare was beyond Brooke’s comprehension. Luckily, or unfortunately, Brooke was extremely sober while Vanessa had already been laughing a little too easily given how badly she held her liquor since she didn’t usually drink. Brooke was sat on the sofa with Vanessa between her legs, on the carpet, keeping her heavy head laid on her knee laughing occasionally at the shenanigans happening before them and leaning gently in Brooke’s touch.

 

“Kyle I dare you to kiss Darren’s neck!” beamed Haiday with an annoyingly suggestive tone.

“I ain’t gonna do that fag shit Haiday” he protested.

Vanessa looked up at Brooke and she rolled her eyes mouthing _straight people_ , making a gagging gesture that made Vanessa giggle – but the moment she wasn’t looking at her anymore Brooke’s face fell as she had a bad feeling bubbling up in her stomach.

 

“Come on, Kyle! Everyone’s a little bisexual, don’t you think?” she said in a tone that did nothing to calm Brooke’s nerves, Haiday's eyes grazing in Vanessa’s direction.

“If you see it like that why don’t you go ahead and kiss a bitch for us, huh?”

 

Her eyebrow raised at the challenge: “you first” she decided.

 

The dude reluctantly got to his friend making ironic kissy faces, left a quick peck on his neck and he dramatically brushed the trace of it away with disgust.

 

“Haiday, your turn-“ he said as he got back in his seat, his tone mischievous “-I dare you to make out with the girl you think is the hottest in the room.”

 

Her eyes slowly and insincerely drew around the room, Brooke’s hold on Vanessa tightened as she waited for her glare to meet her own, which she hoped seemed more threatening than challenging.

 

The girl’s lips twitched in a smirk when she finally met Brooke’s eyes and she lost all hopes when her glance immediately fell on Vanessa – who seemed oblivious of what was clear to Brooke. Way too clear. She just seemed entertained, while Brooke’s hands were almost shaking at how tense she was.

 

“Vanessa” she declared, _obviously._

 

Brooke waited for her to say something, for her to say _no_ , goddamn it. 

 

“I- I’m-“ Vanessa stuttered, Haiday was crawling across the floor towards her with such a teasing smirk on her face: “oh come on Vanessa, don’t ruin the fun.”

Vanessa glared up at Brooke – her eyebrows were drawn together, her eyes expecting. Vanessa felt too dizzy to decipher the look she was receiving but then soft fingers were bringing her chin back down, whistles from the audience ringing in her ears and Haiday was directly in front of her, biting her own glossy bottom lip getting closer, closer, then suddenly - it was too much. 

 

“Stop.”

 

Brooke’s voice was harsh and rigid, interrupting the chaos. Her hand slid on Vanessa’s cheek and softly moving her face to the side, keeping her lips distant from Haiday’s: “she seems a little too out of it for this” leaving little space for arguing and looking directly at her adversary with dominance.

 

“She seems perfectly fine to me” she observed faking innocence.

 

“Vanessa-“ she whispered, trying to get the girl’s attention;

“Brooke, I’m fine” Vanessa declared, looking confused about Brooke’s reaction, as if she had no reason to act like she was acting.

 

“Yeah _Brooke_ , she’s fine” Haiday trailed off, taking the hand that Brooke was resting on Vanessa’s cheek and interlacing their fingers together on the girl’s shoulder.

The room broke into a chorus of whistles and dirty phrases that made Brooke cringe in disgust as she realized what Haiday was actually doing.

 

“Unless I got it wrong and you ain’t the type that shares-” she breathed in Brooke’s ear, only hesitating for a moment before adding

“-her _girlfriend?”_

 

 

_Girlfriend-_

 

 

_Her Girlfriend-_

 

_Vanessa’s Girlfriend-_

 

“I- she-” Brooke stuttered; Haiday knew she'd found her weak spot.

 

Vanessa watched the scene, not really able to make out what they were telling each other, wondering why Brooke was having such an heavy reaction to a game, not like she was actually going to kiss her anyw-

 

Brooke abruptly stood up and stormed out of the room, her heart beating fast but in panic more than in the warm feeling Vanessa usually made bloom in her chest. 

 

She leaned on the fence and asked for a cigarette to a boy that was close by, she lit it with glossy eyes and heard the adjacent room explode in claps and whistles and she supposed that the fucking kiss had happened. Her heart clenched and her head hurt, she also supposed that Haiday got it wrong after all: she doesn’t share because Vanessa’s _not_ her girlfriend. How foolish of hers to think that it was so easy, they never talked about their feelings, instead they fucked and called it a day. And now Vanessa was kissing another girl and maybe she didn’t mean anything more than her. Maybe-

 

But Vanessa was at the door - watching her from behind, while she quietly sniffled at a frat boy party.

 

Love makes you do ridiculous things.

 

But it’s fine, because it means that it’s _love._

 

“Brooke-” Vanessa called, softly “-what’s happening?”

She didn’t even turn around, her mind going 90 miles an hour. Vanessa got closer slowly, as if she could scare her away, as if she was a little animal; she rested a hand on her back to get her attention and put out the cigarette in her hand.

 

“Brooke try to breathe with me, okay?” the girl just nodded and followed Vanessa’s instructions, mirroring each other’s actions from what seems like years away in the library’s bathroom.

“I- I’ve just, she-“ Brooke tried, just to be hushed by Vanessa.

“Let’s go home, huh?” she asked instead.

Brooke Lynn just nodded.

 

 

Vanessa drove them at Brooke’s apartment keeping a grounding hand on her thigh.

The comfortable silence helped Brooke calm down and the little circles Vanessa was sweetly drawing on her skin gave her a rhythm to follow in her breathing.

The torture in Brooke’s mind got gradually replaced with what felt like a relaxing massage, but some doubts didn’t seem to want to leave her in peace.

 

When they got to her bedroom, Vanessa helped her get out of her clothes and moved in her house as if it wasn’t the first time that she saw it - looking for her make-up remover and cotton pads and finding them without even asking.

 

She took care of her, _gently_.

The way her hands caressed her face as she was cleaning her skin felt so affectionate that she physically felt her heart tremble.

 

Once she deemed her job done she told Brooke to get in bed while she prepared a chamomile; _no sugar just like you like it,_ she promised. Brooke knew she was giving her chance to collect her thoughts and talk about what happened in her own time, and she couldn’t be more thankful.

Once she came back to bed, she let her drink her beverage while she took care of herself, trading her party outfit for a t-shirt she found in Brooke’s drawer – and she couldn’t help but smile at the way she was helping herself, couldn’t help but realize that there wasn’t a bigger intimacy she could ask for. Watching her take off her make-up, in particular that lipstick that was probably slightly tainted by a playful, cursed pink-

 

“I can hear you over-think from here, stop” she warned, warmly.

 

She rinsed her mouth when she finished brushing her teeth and went straight under the covers with Brooke, facing her. The only light in the room came from the soft aba-jour and if reflected softly on the high points of their faces.

 

“I’m sorry” were the only words Brooke was able to let out before choking. Fat tears threatening to spill out her green eyes at any moment.

“Brooke, what is going on?” she asked taking the other girl's head in her hands, the way Brooke eyebrows furrowed in pain made Vanessa’s heart clench.

“I’m so, so sorry I overreacted, but you kissed her and I-“

“I didn’t kiss anybody, baby”  
“you- yes, when I left-“

“I followed you straight away”

“but you would have”

“no, I would have not.”

 

And Brooke believed her, how could she not when she was looking at her like this, but-

 

“She had been flirting with you all night, and you were going along with it, then she made that comment”

“what did she say?”

Brooke felt sick just thinking of that word.

 

Once her father advised her to never put herself in front a situation with two possible outcomes if she couldn’t handle both of them just as well. And risking, right now, felt like playing Russian roulette by herself.

 

“She basically asked if I would share you, as in-“ she gestured “-as in, as my… _girlfriend”_

 

Vanessa looked even more confused.

“and that made you that uncomfortable because… you don’t like the idea of an open relationship?” she tried. “-because if that’s the case, I don’t like them neither, I would have never touched her.”

 

Brooke shook her head and took Vanessa’s hands in her own before carefully calculating her words:

“Vanessa, I have never had a _girlfriend”_ she finally confessed “and I’m _terrified_ of ruining this, ruining us, if you don’t… feel the same”

 

 

The meaning of what Brooke was telling her hit Vanessa like a truck and she did the one thing you should never do when a woman is on the verge of crying while pouring her entire heart out in your hands:

she laughed.

 

A laughter that could shake mountains, for the first time that night the tears in somebody’s eyes were from laughter; she laughed like she had just told her the funniest joke in the history of funny jokes. Brooke was pretty shaken by the events of the night and this reaction was the last thing she imagined possible – Vanessa knew that, and she wasn’t cruel enough to let Brooke bathe in doubt for one second more.

 

She threw herself over Brooke’s body, straddled her, circled her arms around her in a bone-crushing hug and began kissing her tirelessly: “yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes”

 

“I didn’t even ask you anything, you cunt” Brooke tried to say between kisses, she felt like she was on a rollercoaster of emotions – and now it was the fun part.

 

“then ask me!”

“hell no! you’re mean”

“you idiot, ask me!”

“no!”

“ok, fine, the I will”

“don’t you dare!”

“Brooke Lynn Hytes do you-“

“shut up!”

“do you-“

 

 _“Do you want to be my girlfriend?”_ they ended up asking, at the same time.

 

The answer was pretty obvious at that point – but that didn’t stop either of them from moaning it again and again not much time later, while coming from each other’s fingers.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

The last time they went to the library before summer would bring them somewhere else, like on picnic dates or hotel beds in Venice, they had just one thing in mind. Or Three.

 

“We’re together!” Brooke said, proudly.

 

“yeah, _no shit,_ Brooke-“

“Kery!” Nina softly scolded “that’s amazing, girls! We are so happy for you!”

“They made us free a room from people that were studying just to tell us they’re fucking, like we didn’t know-“ A’keria clarified “-I’m happy for you Vanjie, you know that, can we go?”

“Not yet“ said Brooke and Vanessa in perfect unison. yes, it was becoming weirdly common.

 

Brooke smirked and added: “there are just two more things that we think it’s time to clarify before leaving.”

Vanessa took Brooke’s hand and playfully raised her index finger.

“One: A’keria why on earth do you dislike Brooke Lynn?”

 

Nina turned in her direction as she was also very interested in the answer and never really got to hear it after that guy interrupted them all those months ago.

 

“Oh God, Vanessa you don’t wanna hear this one-“ she said “-trust me.”

“Come on, it can’t be _that_ bad!” she tried.

 

 

“Once I saw her using her stupid yellow highlighter on a library book. Inerasable I say, _inerasable”_

 

Nina and Brooke blinked, tried to understand if she was being serious or joking and taking the real reason of her hatred with her in the grave, until Vanjie’s hand flew to her mouth in shock: “Brooke!”

 

“What?!”

“A’keria bring in the divorce papers, we are _done_.”

“Vanessa!”

“Done, I said!” she asserted “you’re disgusting!”

“Ok, we are discussing this one later-“ she tried, holding her temples with her fingers “-but now, there’s still one last thing to address.”

 

Vanessa looked at Brooke with mischief, smirked, took her hand and they both hurried out of the door locking Nina and A’keria inside together, alone.

 

“Neither of you is coming out until you’ve discussed your relationship!”

“We want to see you either make out or dead when we open that door, possibly the first one, please!”

 

“Very funny! Vanessa I’m gonna cut your throat with my nails if you don’t open this door right now” A’keria threatened, banging on the closed door, watching them giggling like little girls through the little window on the door.

“If everything goes right, you’ll have to cut them short anyway!”

“Jesus, Nina! Aren’t you gonna say anything?!”

 

Nina was sat on the loveseat, letting out a resigned chuckle.

She looked at her with so much affection that A’keria felt it burning the back of her head even when she wasn’t meeting her eyes.

 

 

“Maybe we should talk”

 

A’keria’s hand stopped mid-air, knocking would be useless; running away would be unfair.

 

She just turned around and sat next to Nina, then laid her head on her shoulder.

 

“Maybe we should”

 

**But that's another story.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading,  
> It's been a pleasure to project my romantic desires on two drag queens with you girls <3
> 
> love you all.  
> p.s. a strap-on bonus chapter is probably gonna happen, so stay tuned for that!  
> Follow me on tumblr @sohytes


End file.
